Heidary, M.

Nasiri, M.J.

eprints Iran University of Medical Sciences

Clinical Infectious DiseasesC O R R E S P O N D E N C EWhy Has HIV/AIDS PrevalenceIncreased in Iran?TO THE EDITOR—AIDS is a syndromecaused by the human immunodeﬁciencyvirus (HIV). AIDS occurs in late-stageHIV infection, when a person’s CD4cell count drops below 200 cells/μL ofblood and the body can no longer defenditself. Although there is currently no curefor AIDS, with early diagnosis and effec-tive antiretroviral treatment and support,people can have a long, normal, healthylife with HIV. The most common wayto transmit HIV is by having sex withouta condom. HIV can also be transmittedthrough infected drug-taking equipment(blood transmission) or from mother tochild, but not by sweat, saliva, or urine[1]. Black Americans make up only 12%of the US population but account for 41%of all HIV-infected persons. The Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)reported that the mortality rates of HIV-infected black Americans decreased by28% between 2008 and 2012. Accordingto new data released from the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) and theUnited Nations Children’s Fund, thenumber of babies born with HIV inLatin America and the Caribbean dimin-ished by 78% during 2001–2013. The Na-tional HIV/AIDS Strategy has decreasedthe rates of HIV prevalence and transmis-sion in the United States from 2010 to2015 by 11% and 17%, respectively. Ac-cording to a new report by the CDC,the average number of transmissions per100 people living with HIV (transmissionrate) fell from 3.16 to 2.61 in the UnitedStates over the last 5 years.In Iran, unlike the US, HIV is mostcommonly transmitted among injectingdrug users [2]. Based on the statisticsanalysis, it is estimated that more than20 thousand of Iranian people are infect-ed with HIV [2].The most important rea-son is that due to sociocultural facts,AIDS in Iran is considered a negativephenomenon; HIV-infected people inIran have not been seen in an acceptedmanner and thus hide their diseasefrom others, increasing the transmissionpossibility of HIV. Failure to expand di-agnostic, prevention, and care serviceswould result in underachievement ondecreasing the number of HIV-infectedIranian people. Furthermore, Iranianswho are living with HIV are often un-aware of their status. HIV testing uptakeand linkage to care are critical to reducenew HIV infections and increase people’sawareness of their HIV status [2]. Face-to-face interaction and social networkingstrategies have been found to be a moreimpressive and cost-effective method ofengaging people in HIV testing, but dueto sociocultural facts, Iranians ignorethis method [3]. Another problem is thenumber of checkups for HIV thatIranian pregnant women undergo duringpregnancy. WHO recommends 4 ormore checkups for HIV. Rural and poorIranian pregnant women often do notreceive even one checkup. Therefore theprevalence of HIV/AIDS has increasedin Iran.NotePotential conﬂict of interest. Both authors:No reported conﬂicts. Both authors have submit-ted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of PotentialConﬂicts of Interest. Conﬂicts that the editorsconsider relevant to the content of the manu-script have been disclosed.Mohsen Heidary1 and Mohammad Javad Nasiri21Department of Medical Microbiology, Iran University ofMedical Sciences, and 2Department of Medical Microbiology,Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of MedicalSciences, Tehran, IranReferences1. Douek DC, Roederer M, Koup RA. Emerging con-cepts in the immunopathogenesis of AIDS. AnnRev Med 2009; 60:471–84.2. Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran.Information center for AIDS/HIV. Available at:http://aids.behdasht.gov.ir/. Accessed 15 October 2015.3. Rhodes SD, McCoy TP, Tanner AE, et al. Using socialmedia to increase HIV testing among gay and bisex-ual men, other MSM, and transgender persons:outcomes from a randomized community trial. ClinInfect Dis 2016; 62:1450–3.Correspondence: M. J. Nasiri, Department of Medical Micro-biology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran(mj.nasiri@hotmail.com).Clinical Infectious Diseases® 2016;63(6):846© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press forthe Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com. DOI:10.1093/cid/ciw361846 • CID 2016:63 (15 September) • CORRESPONDENCEDownloaded from https://academic.oup.com/cid/article-abstract/63/6/846/2196727 by Iran University of Medical Science user on 13 October 2019

Why Has HIV/AIDS Prevalence Increased in Iran?

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Why Has HIV/AIDS Prevalence Increased in Iran?

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