BioScience Trends. 2014;8(1):52-58.
Clinical epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in China from 2004−2011.
Li M, Shen YZ, Jiang XF, Li Q, Zhou XM, Lu HZ
This study retrospectively analyzed Chinese publicly reported data on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). The HIV/AIDS morbidity (1/100,000) and mortality (1/100,000) rates in China continually increased from 0.23 and 0.06 in 2004 to 1.53 and 0.69 in 2011, respectively. The AIDS case fatality rate decreased yearly from 53.57% in 2008 to 45.11% in 2011, and the fatality rate in rural areas (0.25-0.42%) was higher than hat in cities (0.13-0.22%). The number of HIV/AIDS patients discharged from city-level hospitals increased from 329 in 2004 to 7,266 in 2011, and this number was higher than the number of similar patients discharged from countylevel (rural) hospitals (the number of HIV/AIDS patients increased from 252 in 2004 to 5,957 in 2011). The factors contributing to these trends include: enhanced physician HIV/AIDS education regarding diagnosis, intervention, monitoring, testing, and treatment; improved safety of blood collection and use; and improved management of HIV/AIDS patients. Therefore, HIV/AIDS prevention and control in rural areas of China is the key to reducing HIV transmission and mortality in China.