Many individuals world over do not experience symptoms of HIV until it’s too late and the immune system eventually fails. Professionals from the University of Copenhagen along with a team from HIV in Europe initiative have now disclosed potential risk factors for HIV in the form of diseases like cancer and herpes zoster.
Almost 3,588 patients were part of the study, where nearly 8 diseases seemed to be manifestations of HIV. The list of diseases was inclusive of seborrheic dermatitis, exanthema, prolonged mononucleosis-like illness, cervical cancer, anal cancer, dysplasia, herpes zoster, and lack of sufficient white blood cells.
“But the incidence of HIV is greater for these eight indicator diseases and they should encourage health care professionals to offer the patient an HIV test. Draft guidelines on how to ensure this throughout Europe are one of the topics we need to debate and decide on, before they can be implemented,” quoted Jens Lundgren, Co-chair of the HIV in Europe initiative.
This trial was primarily aimed at early diagnosis of HIV, which would help the affected people start therapies on an immediate basis. This kind of timely action often raises the chances of survival and improves the patients’ quality of life. Moreover, appropriate treatments appeared to lower the risk of spreading the infection to others.
The scientists asserted that people suffering from the aforesaid diseases could be exposed to HIV tests by health care practitioners. However, further studies and debates on this issue need to be conducted for passing on draft guidelines, they concluded.
The findings of the study will be debated at the forthcoming international HIV conference in Copenhagen.