THIRD OF HIV PATIENTS DIAGNOSED LATE

Health, News by Simon McD on November 27, 2009 at 11:10 am

The UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) has released figures showing that a third of adults diagnosed with HIV were diagnosed late.

The figures show that in 2008 there were 7,298 new diagnoses of HIV in the UK with an estimated 32% (2,310) of adults over 15 years being diagnosed at a point after which treatment should already have begun. The concern of the HPA is that patients are missing out on the benefits that come from early diagnosis, including improved life expectancy.

According to British HIV Association guidelines introduced last year, patients with HIV should now be considered for treatment when their CD4 cell count reaches <350 per mm3 rather than waiting until it falls further to <200 per mm3. If these guidelines were used when interpreting the latest figures, it would mean more than half (55%) of all individuals diagnosed last year would have been diagnosed late.

Additionally, three quarters of the 525 people with HIV who died in 2008 had been diagnosed at a point after which treatment should have begun according to the latest treatment guidelines (i.e. a CD4 cell count <350 per mm3). This highlights the importance of promoting testing to ensure early diagnosis and enable successful treatment.

Dr Valerie Delpech, an expert in HIV from the Health Protection Agency said: “HIV is a serious infection but if diagnosed early, there are very good treatment options. Of concern is that over 22,000 people remain unaware of their infection in the UK and cannot therefore benefit from effective treatment.

“It is encouraging to see the increased numbers of HIV tests being performed in STI clinics. However, we must reduce the number of people presenting late with their infection by increasing awareness of the importance of testing, improving access and de-stigmatising the HIV test.

“We need to continually reinforce the safe sex message – using a condom with all new or casual sexual partners is the surest way to ensure you do not become infected with a serious sexually transmitted infection such as HIV.”