Strong evidence that the rate of new infections amongst gay men in the UK may
be increasing has been published by the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre
at target=_blank>http://www.phls.co.uk/publications/CDR99/cdr1899.pdf
In a review of data accumulated since 1993, the Public Health Laboratory's
AIDS Centre points to:
- A 39% increase in rectal gonorrhoea reports since 1993
- A 60% increase in gonorrhoea reports in gay men in the Thames (London)
region since 1993
- The proportion of HIV + gay men presenting with an acute STI increased from
22% to 33% between 1994 and 1997
Although the authors attribute some of the increase to stricter reporting
requirements for gonnorhoea isolates (introduced in 1995), they note that the
median age of gay men at HIV diagnosis has remained stable at 31 to 33 years
throughout this period, suggesting ongoing transmission. The median CD4 count
has also remained stable, at around 300 cells, over a number of years,
suggesting that people with declining CD4 counts (infected long ago) were being
replaced by people with higher CD4 counts (infected recently).
Dr Barry Evans, Head of HIV & AIDS Reporting at the Public Health
Laboratory told a recent HIV prevention conference that an estimated 1500 new
infections were occurring each year amongst gay men, primarily in London. He
estimated that the number is much lower amongst Africans, and supported his
argument by pointing to the declining median CD4 count amongst Africans
diagnosed with HIV over the past few years.
He also highlighted the groups which need to be targeted in HIV prevention
activities:
- The untested: 56% of gay men who are HIV-positive and who present with acute
STIs have undiagnosed HIV infection.
- Those over 25: the increases in acute STIs are concentrated amongst gay men
aged 25-44. There has been little change in gay men under 25.