In the reporting period from the 1^st July to 30^th September 2008, NHS Scotland laboratories reported positive HIV-antibody test results for 100 individuals not previously recorded as HIV-positive.

 

This makes the cumulative total of known HIV-positive individuals in Scotland 5718, of whom 4154 (73%) are male and 1564 (27%) are female. Of this total at least 1575 (28%) are known to have died.

 

Of the 100 recently reported HIV-positive individuals, 68 (68%) are male, and 72 (72%) are aged between 25 and 44 years. In 27 of the reported cases the probable route of transmission was men who have sex with men (MSM), through heterosexual intercourse in 39 cases, and four cases attributed to injecting drug use.

Of the heterosexual cases, 26 probably acquired their infection abroad. Four cases of mother-to-child transmission were reported, two of which were of foreign origin. The transmission category is, as yet, undetermined for 26 cases.

Forty cases were from Greater Glasgow & Clyde, twenty four from Lothian, and fourteen from Grampian.

Fifty five (55%) of the 100 cases reported during this period to the end of September are presumed to have acquired the infection outwith Scotland. Overall of the 5718 total reports 2157 (38%) are presumed to have acquired the infection abroad.

 

During the same reporting quarter, 10 cases of AIDS were reported.  The cumulative number of AIDS cases is now 1478, of whom 1172 (79%) are male.  950 (64%) are known to have died.

Of the newly reported AIDS cases, nine were from Greater Glasgow & Clyde, and seven were male.

 

 

Cumulative cases of HIV in Scotland: 5718

Those not known to have died: 4143

It is estimated that 1/3rd of the people infected with HIV are unaware of their status.
This could mean that 2017 people are living with HIV in Scotland, and don't know it.

 

More detailed statistical information is available from Health Protection Scotland  http://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk

 

 

 

During 2007 the 446 new cases of HIV in Scotland represent the highest annual figure ever reported with record high numbers recorded in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde at 153. Higher numbers were recorded in Lothian and Tayside, during the 1980s amongst injecting drug users who then represented the highest category and prompted urgent and highly successful action on the part of Government and health agencies. Only nine cases have been reported in 2007 amongst injecting drug users, evidence that now amongst Intravenous drug users in Scotland HIV transmission is a rare event.

Amongst cases presumed infected in Scotland, gay men accounted for 87% (110/127) of 2007 reports. There is a significant rise in new infections amongst young people with 63 cases reported in the 15 to 24 age group. This is the highest annual total in this age group since 1986. 

Gay men now represent the group most at risk from HIV transmission with reported cases outstripping those among heterosexuals for the first time since 1999. 

Statisticians report it too early to comment on whether the increase in 2007 in newly diagnosed cases of HIV amongst men who have sex with men is a result of an increase in incidence of infection amongst this group.