In the minds of the general public, the difference is not always clear. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an infection that can be transmitted especially during sexual relations. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), sometimes erroneously used synonymously, is the most advanced stage of the disease that results from infection with the virus.
Thus, it is possible to be seropositive, infected by HIV, but without developing AIDS. However, a significant number of HIV-positive people do not receive treatment and develop AIDS, as highlighted this Tuesday, November 26, in an article published by Public Health France.
In this article, epidemiologist Françoise Cazein points out that, “despite considerable advances” in the treatment of patients, “AIDS, the most advanced phase of the infection, is still diagnosed in France in several hundred people a year.” “.
A study carried out using declarative data collected from 2012 to 2023, a period during which we were able to observe an average of 800 to 900 cases of AIDS per year, 11,300 estimated over the entire interval.
18% know they are infected but do not receive treatment.
However, although we cannot yet cure HIV (with very rare exceptions), treatments allow HIV-positive people to live a normal life, thanks to antiretroviral treatment. As Vidal explains, these are “substances that have been designed to block different stages of HIV multiplication.”
These treatments help you stay healthy and prevent transmission to your partner during sex. But a part of the population escapes, rejects or ignores this treatment.
“The vast majority (80%) of AIDS diagnoses referred to people who had not received AIDS (treatment) before,” reads the health authorities’ bulletin. In 18% of cases, people knew they were infected with HIV.
The article is more of an inventory than an in-depth explanation of the mechanisms at work. “The data collected by the (declaration), necessarily succinct, do not allow us to know the reasons for the lack of treatment for these people,” indicate the French researchers.
However, some clues continue to emerge, including patient profiles. These include, for example, people born abroad who arrived in France without access to adequate care between the diagnosis and development of AIDS, which lasts an average of eight years.
“Any contact with the health system, even at a distance from migration, could be an opportunity to offer or repeat an HIV test, in order to bring these people closer to health care,” the authors argue.
Source: BFM TV
