Around New Year's there were several news reports that in several ways were related to HIV/AIDS.
In Stockholm the first report - in an op-ed form in Dagens Nyheter - came about the HIV screening among 269 intra-venous drug users that took place in Stockholm the past summer. The authors report that there is a culture of needle sharing in this group, 90% were infected with Hep C - but very few with Hep B. The research team managed to find 7 new HIV infected (another five were already known).
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In New York City, the number of people infected with HIV is decreasing - but in gay men, particularly men of color, the figures are - alarmingly enough - moving in the opposite direction [from NYT]. And there is a fear that there will be a "second wave" of infections. One concern is that many are getting their HIV diagnosis as the result of an AIDS diagnosis, i.e. they must have been infected for quite some time.
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A few days later, the NYT reported about the changing face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and where there is a larger proportion who are being over 50 years old:
The graying of the AIDS epidemic has increased interest in the connection between AIDS and cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis and depression. The number of people 50 and older living with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, has increased 77 percent from 2001 to 2005, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control, and they now represent more than a quarter of all cases in the United States.
It will interesting to see how health care providers in the care for older people will adjust to an aging and more diverse population. How will nursing homes handle the presence of blood-borne diseases? Will they be able to make these men and women a welcomed community - or will they be facing stigma? And are the geriatricians prepared to add the anti-retroviral cocktails to the other medications?
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The BBC reports on the problem in India that the condoms on the market often are too big...
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