The Scottish Government

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HIV infection and AIDS: Report to 31 December 1998

29/01/1999

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE SCOTTISH CENTRE FOR INFECTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

In the quarter 1 October to 31 December 1998, Scottish Health Service laboratories reported positive HIV-antibody test results for 54 individuals not previously registered as HIV-positive.

Forty of the 54 are male and 41 are aged between 25 and 44 years.

The probable transmission category was sexual intercourse between men in 21 cases, heterosexual intercourse in 13 cases and injecting drug use in six cases. Of the heterosexual cases, four probably acquired their infection abroad and nine are under investigation. Three previously unreported cases of perinatal transmission were added to the register this quarter though two of the cases were children who were born in the 1980s. For 11 cases the transmission category is, as yet, undetermined.

Nineteen of the 54 cases were from Lothian, 11 from Greater Glasgow, eight from Tayside and three from Grampian.

During the same quarter, 12 cases of AIDS were reported by clinicians and deaths of ten patients with AIDS recorded.

Of the 12 newly reported AIDS cases, ten are male; seven probably acquired their infection as a result of injecting drug use, two as a consequence of sexual intercourse between men and two as a result of heterosexual intercourse.

170 cases of HIV infection were reported to SCIEH during 1998. This figure compares with an annual average of 164 during 1990-1997.

Of the 170 reports of HIV infection in 1998, 139 of these had an earliest positive specimen date that year. Because of reporting delay, it is likely that this number of newly diagnosed infections will increase during 1999. The average annual number of new HIV diagnoses during 1990-97 has been 161.

The cumulative number of HIV infections reported to SCIEH as at 31 December 1998 is 2885. Of these, 1072 are known to be dead. Of the remaining 1813 persons, 1102 were under immunological monitoring (in clinical care) during 1998.

Fifty-five cases of AIDS were registered at SCIEH in 1998. Adjusted for reporting delay, 46 cases of AIDS were diagnosed in 1998. With the annual totals for 1995, 1996 and 1997 being 121, 82 and 65 respectively, the incidence of AIDS continues to decline. The cumulative number of AIDS reports to 31 December 1998 is 954.

The decline in the incidence of AIDS correlates well with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) uptake by infected persons in clinical care. In 1998, at least 54 per cent had been on triple or quadruple therapy.

HIV transmission among gay men continues to be Scotland's greatest HIV-related public health problem. This is reflected in the annual number of new diagnoses having remained much the same since 1985; in 1998, 69 cases were reported.

Needle/syringe exchange and methadone therapy, in particular, have controlled the spread of HIV among injecting drug users in Scotland. Nevertheless, HIV transmissions have occurred in recent years and accumulating evidence indicates that the above interventions have failed to control the spread of hepatitis C in this population.

Heterosexual transmission of HIV continues to occur in Scotland but the numbers are small and not increasing. With the incidence of HIV among injecting drug users decreasing, the number of transmissions from them to their sexual partners has also decreased in recent years. Imported infections from abroad continue to be diagnosed at a steady rate.

For the UK as a whole, 33716 cases of HIV infection and 16028 AIDS cases had been reported by 31 December 1998

BACKGROUND

For any further enquiries please contact Dr David Goldberg's office at the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health, Clifton House, Clifton Place, GLASGOW G3 7LN. Tel: 0141 300 1100, FAX: 0141-300 1170.

News Release: 0160/99
28 January 1999