Newly diagnosed HIV infections increase in Germany in 2002

The number of newly diagnosed HIV infections in Germany has increased for the first time since 1997.

During 2002, 1517 new HIV cases were diagnosed, and this number is expected to rise further as late reports are received. This compares to 1478 new diagnoses made in the previous year. Gay men remain the most disproportionately affected group in Germany; 40% of new infections in 2002 were diagnosed in gay men; 25% of new HIV diagnoses were made in women.

The second largest affected group in terms of new diagnosis is people from countries with high HIV prevalence rates, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. As in the UK, German experts think that the majority had been infected in their homeland, prior to migrating to Germany. At the moment it is not possible to identify how many migrants have been infected whilst living in Germany.

In total 13% of new diagnoses occurred in heterosexual people who do not originate from a country with high HIV prevalence, and injecting drug use accounts for 7% of new infections. This number of new infections among injecting drug users has decreased in recent years.

The number of gay men diagnosed in recent years has increased; researchers cite a combination of the documented increase in unprotected sex among gay men in Germany and recent increases in sexually transmitted infections, including localised syphilis outbreaks among gay men during 2001 and 2002 as contributory factors.

The temporary increase in newly diagnosed HIV infections in 1997/8 (up to 2096 new diagnoses in 1997) has been explained by the availability of HAART and the associated willingness to test.

The number of HIV-positive people living in Germany has increased significantly since the introduction of more effective treatments in 1996. Since recording began in the early 1980s around 60,000 people have been diagnosed with HIV infection in Germany and over 21,000 have died from AIDS-related illnesses.