Research: Late HIV diagnosis
23 January 2008
Doctors are missing valuable opportunities to diagnose HIV in Africans living in the UK, with serious consequences for their long-term health. This was the finding of research by Fiona Burns at University College London.
Dr Burns and colleagues surveyed 263 HIV-positive individuals from Africa and found that half were diagnosed late, despite an above average use of primary and secondary healthcare services such as GPs and clinics. In more than 80 per cent of cases of people who were later diagnosed as HIV positive, HIV testing was never discussed by the GP, despite the individuals coming from countries with a high prevalence of HIV infection.
HIV-positive individuals who are diagnosed late - once symptoms are showing - are about ten times more likely to die within one year of diagnosis than those diagnosed early. If diagnosed early, HIV usually becomes a chronic long-term condition rather than a terminal illness.
Dr Burns believes that GPs are ideally positioned within the local community to discuss HIV testing with their patients, but that people in African communities also need to be more aware of the risks that they face and of the benefits of HIV testing.
Image: Cut-away model of HIV; John Wildgoose, Wellcome Images
References
Burns FM et al. Missed opportunities for earlier HIV diagnosis within primary and secondary healthcare settings in the UK. AIDS 2008;22(1):107-13.