Chlamydia, HIV up, hep C down

New diagnoses of HIV infection have increased by almost 50 per cent in the last eight years, University of NSW research shows.

The number of new diagnoses increased from 718 in 1999 to 1051 in 2007. Last year, one in 10 of the newly reported infections were originally diagnosed overseas, predominantly in people from sub-Saharan Africa.

The estimated number of people living with HIV infection in Australia last year was 16,692.

In a report released at the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine’s annual conference in Perth today, the researchers, from UNSW’s National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, found that Chlamydia continues to be the most frequently reported notifiable infectious disease.

Numbers increased by nine per cent from 2006 to 2007, with 51,867 cases diagnosed last year.

The diagnosis of hepatitis C infection declined by 17 per cent over the past five years, the report found.