Late diagnoses a problem in the UK

In the UK, a third of all HIV diagnoses are made in people whose CD4 count has already fallen below 200 cells as a result of their HIV infection. This level of immune deficiency is associated with an increased risk of illness, and with a poorer response to anti-HIV therapy; indeed a substantial number of those diagnosed late in the UK, are diagnosed when they develop an opportunistic infection.

At the recent Seventh Annual Conference of the British HIV Association (BHIVA), researchers from Brighton presented a review of seventy new AIDS cases, which were diagnosed between 1997 and 2000. Twenty-one had been diagnosed HIV-positive, or had lived outside the Brighton region, and were therefore excluded from the analysis. Of the remaining 49 people, 25 had attended hospital prior to their diagnosis, and five had been in-patients.

Between 1997 and 2000, 292 people were diagnosed HIV-positive in the region. Seventeen deaths were recorded amongst these individuals. The consequences of failing to diagnose illness as HIV-related are clear: thirteen of the seventeen deaths were amongst people whose HIV infection had been missed when they had previously presented for medical care.