About 6,400 people discovered their HIV status in France in 2017, a "stable" figure for several years. Nevertheless, the agency Public Health France alert on "discoveries always too late".
About 6,400 people discovered their HIV status in France in 2017, more than half of which have been infected in heterosexual sex, a "stable" number for several years, according to new data released Thursday by the health agency Public Health France.
A better estimate of the number of contaminations
According to this report, among these more than 6,000 people, 3,600 (56%) were infected with the AIDS virus during heterosexual sex, 2,600 (41%) during sex between men and 130 (2%) by drug use. injectables. Public Health France (SpF) estimates that the number of HIV-positive discoveries for the two main modes of infection (heterosexual and homosexual) "is stable between 2010 and 2017", while "it decreases among users of HIV. injectable drugs.
"The difference observed compared to estimates previously produced is due to a change in methodology and not an increase in the number of discoveries," she said in a statement. The increasing use by physicians and biologists of the "e-Do" web application that facilitates and shortens mandatory reporting of infection has occurred in these changes.
Screening always too late
Nevertheless, "despite a broad offer of HIV testing in France, nearly one-third of HIV-positive discoveries are too late", ie "advanced" infection, or even in the clinical stage of AIDS, she laments. This proportion is "stable since 2013", specifies the public organization.
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People born abroad are more affected
For men who have sex with men (MSM), differences are found by country of birth. The number of discoveries is stable among those born in France, but increases steadily in those born abroad, from 400 cases in 2011 (18% of discoveries among MSM) to 675 in 2017 (26%). "This trend may be linked to an increase in the number of new infections, but also to a greater use of screening," says SpF in its Public Health Bulletin devoted to monitoring HIV infection.
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Of the HIV-positive findings among heterosexuals, 75% are foreign-born, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Half (52%) of the HIV-positive findings were from people who indicated they had never been tested before. In populations where regular testing is recommended, heterosexuals born abroad and MSM, this proportion is 68% and 33%, respectively.