As the Epidemic Ages, So Do the Patients

An inevitable consequence of the decline in HIV-related deaths is the aging of the population living with HIV infection. A recent study from San Francisco — a city hit particularly hard by HIV right from the start — documents this trend.

Using surveillance data from city's HIV/AIDS surveillance registry, investigators charted the ages of individuals living with a diagnosis of AIDS, using the 1992 CDC case definition. This registry is updated through linkage to local and national databases that track deaths and other vital statistics. The researchers also compared the numbers for San Francisco with those for the U.S. overall.

Of the 9796 individuals living with AIDS in San Francisco at the end of 2010, 5112 (52%) were 50 or older. The proporti…