Transfusion-associated AIDS cases in Europe: estimation of the incubation period distribution and prediction of future cases

Article Abstract:

Significant numbers of cases of AIDS are still being reported in Europe as a result of transfusion with blood contaminated with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Patients are being diagnosed with transfusion-associated AIDS even though donated blood has been screened for HIV since 1985. The reason for this is because the incubation period (from the time of infection to the disease state) is long and variable. The median (middle) incubation period is estimated to be from 6.5 to 11 years, depending on the year of diagnosis. Present treatment of HIV-infected individuals prolongs the incubation period until the development of full-blown AIDS. The number of transfusion-associated AIDS cases, due to HIV infections acquired between 1978 and 1985, that will be diagnosed in Europe by the end of 1991 is estimated to be between 2,000 and 3,000. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Health aspects, Europe, Causes of, HIV infection, HIV infections, Blood transfusion, Blood-borne diseases, Bloodborne diseases

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Recent trends in Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia as AIDS-defining disease in nine European countries

Article Abstract:

The number of people with AIDS who have Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) differs among European countries and according to mode of transmission. Of 43,198 adult AIDS patients in nine European countries, 14,606 were diagnosed with PCP. However the rates of PCP varied from country to country. Portuguese AIDS patients had the lowest risk of having PCP and British AIDS patients had the highest. Rates of PCP dropped in hemophiliacs, homosexuals, and injection drug users during the four-and-a-half-year study. Reasons for this decrease may be explained by the awareness of members of these groups of their HIV status, and by the medical services and treatment made available to these transmission groups. The variation in PCP rates indicates that treatment to prevent PCP is not widely available in some European countries.

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia

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Incubation period of vertically acquired AIDS in Europe before widespread use of prophylactic therapies

Article Abstract:

HIV-infected children born to mothers with HIV may develop AIDS at different rates. Researchers analyzed data on 792 European children with AIDS from 1982 to 1990, and found that there may be two different age groups in which AIDS is diagnosed. One group of children progressed from HIV infection to AIDS at around five months of age. Another group was diagnosed at closer to three years of age. Some children with AIDS who acquire the infection from their mothers may deteriorate more rapidly than do adults with AIDS. However, possibly 26% of HIV-infected children may not develop AIDS by age eight. Including children who have not developed AIDS by age eight in analyses of children with AIDS may lengthen the average time of diagnosis to 4.4 years rather than three years.

Development and progression, HIV infection in children, Pediatric HIV infections

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