EPIDEMIOLOGY OF AIDS: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF AIDS: GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

The Epidemiology of AIDS: Expression, Occurrence, and Control of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection. Kaslow RA and Francis DP, eds. New York, Oxford University Press, p. 87-116, 1989.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/90668113
Kaslow RA; Francis DP; NIAID, NIH, Westwood Bldg., Rm. 739, Bethesda, MD 20892

Abstract: Many epidemiologic features of HIV-1 infection and AIDS are pertinent to the epidemic as a whole rather than peculiar to any of the risk groups individually. General issues common to the HIV-1 epidemic are reviewed, including origins of HIV-1 infection; AIDS occurrence and surveillance; transmission (transmissibility and modes of transmission [sexual, salivary/oral, breast feeding, and selected parenteral]); cofactors/risk modifiers of HIV infection (mechanical trauma, co-infection, chemicals/drugs); cofactors for immunodeficiency (co-infection, genetics/race, chemicals/drugs, age, and sex); incubation period/latency (infection and disease); models of infection and disease; and natural history (immunologic and clinical). The incidence of AIDS has been based on a sample of men who had been enrolled for several years and had not had uniform follow-up. Nevertheless, from this large cohort and others in which the incidence of AIDS has been based on participants with prevalent infection, reliable estimates suggest that about 35-45% of previously infected persons might be expected to develop AIDS in 8 yr and presumably higher proportions will develop the disease with elapsing time. Whether the shape of the incidence curve will differ by person, place, or time, either for individuals with prevalent infection or for those followed from the time infection first occurred, has yet to be determined. At least the bleakest view on the ultimate outcome of infection can be tempered by the knowledge that, even without effective therapy, the majority of infected people may remain free of AIDS for nearly a decade after they first acquire HIV-1 infection. (151 Refs)

Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION Comparative Study Cross-Cultural Comparison Cross-Sectional Studies *Disease Outbreaks Human HIV Infections/TRANSMISSION HIV Seropositivity/EPIDEMIOLOGY HIV-1/*PATHOGENICITY Incidence Population Surveillance Risk Factors United States/EPIDEMIOLOGY MONOGRAPH REVIEW, TUTORIAL REVIEW
901230
M90C3733

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