In keeping with BHIVA standards for HIV clinical care, patients needing inpatient care for HIV-related disease should ordinarily be admitted to an HIV centre or the relevant tertiary service in liaison with the HIV centre. “
“The aim of the study was to identify and describe the characteristics of persons born in the UK who acquire HIV infection abroad. Analyses using case reports and follow-up data from the national HIV database held at the Health Protection Agency were performed. Fifteen per cent Sotrastaurin order (2066 of 13 891) of UK-born adults diagnosed in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland between 2002 and 2010 acquired HIV infection abroad. Thailand (534), the USA (117) and South Africa (108) were the countries most commonly reported. As compared
with UK-born adults acquiring HIV infection in the UK, those acquiring HIV infection abroad were significantly (P < 0.01) more likely to have acquired it heterosexually (70% vs. 22%, respectively), to be of older age at diagnosis (median 42 years vs. 36 years, respectively), and to have reported sex with a commercial sex worker (5.6% vs. 1%, respectively). Among men infected in Thailand, 11% reported sex with a commercial sex worker. A substantial number of ABT-263 cell line UK-born adults are acquiring HIV infection in countries with generalized HIV epidemics, and in common holiday destinations. Of particular concern is the high proportion of men infected reporting sex with a commercial sex worker. We recommend HIV prevention and testing efforts be extended to include travellers abroad, and that sexual health advice be provided routinely in travel health consultations and in occupational health travel advice packs, particularly to those travelling to high HIV prevalence areas and destinations for sex tourism. Safer sex messages should include an awareness of the potential detrimental health and social impacts of the sex industry. In 2010, UK residents made an estimated 55 million visits abroad [1]. Some of these residents will have had sex, often unprotected, with people they met while abroad Protein kinase N1 [2, 3]. Persons who have new sexual partners abroad [3], and/or engage in high-risk sexual behaviours while abroad [4], are likely to have higher risk
sexual lifestyles more generally [3, 4], and an above average number of sexual partners at home [5]. Furthermore, persons travelling specifically for sex are more likely to engage in unprotected sex and have multiple partnerships while abroad than they normally would at home [6]. Increased sexual mixing while abroad brings with it an associated risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection, including HIV infection [7]. This risk is likely to be highest among persons engaging in unprotected sex with local partners in countries where the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections is elevated [8], particularly among ‘sex tourists’ (persons travelling for commercial sex) [7], the majority of whom are men [9] and are of older age [7, 9, 10].