| |
European HIV Reporting: First Results and Comparison with AIDS Reporting A. INFUSO*, F. F. HAMERS, J. ALIX, A. M. DOWNS, and J. B. BRUNET.
European Ctr. Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS, Saint-Maurice, France Introduction: A European surveillance system, based on national HIV reporting systems existing in the WHO European Region, was set up in 1999 to complement European AIDS reporting.
Methods Analysis of adult HIV and AIDS cases reported in 31 countries grouped into West (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, San Marino, Sweden, Switzerland, UK); Centre (Albania, Croatia, Czech Rep. Hungary, FYR Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia); East (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Rep. Moldova, Russian Fed., Ukraine).
Results: In 1998, 21,678 HIV cases were reported, of which 7,242 (37 per million) in the West, 963 (10) in the Centre and 13,473 (54) in the East. The ratio HIV:AIDS cases was 2.6 in the West and the Centre, and 34 in the East. MSM accounted for the largest proportion of cases (47% of both HIV and AIDS) in the West, followed by heterosexuals (HIV: 43%; AIDS: 29%). In contrast, IDU predominated in the Centre (HIV: 52%) and the East (HIV: 83%; AIDS: 66%). Compared to 1993, HIV cases reported in 1998 decreased in the West (-14%) but increased in the Centre (+77%) and the East (74 fold!). AIDS cases declined in the West (-46%) while increasing in the Centre (2.5 fold) and the East (15 fold).
Conclusions: In Europe, HIV reporting data indicate continuing sexual transmission in the West (although data are not representative as countries with large IDU epidemics [e.g. France, Spain] are not included) and rapid HIV spread among IDU in the East. AIDS incidence declined in the West, largely due to HAART, and increased in the East but grossly underestimates recent HIV epidemics. While AIDS surveillance remains useful to assess HIV care, HIV reporting will increasingly contribute to describe HIV trends.
Key Words: Europe, HIV reporting, surveillance
|
