HIV diagnosis delay in Antwerp, Belgium.

SIR Early diagnosis of HIV infection has many advantages; it allows timely prophylaxis against opportunistic infections such as Pneumocystis carinii and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and early recognition and treatment of HIV related complications. Moreover, counselling of people with HIV infection may reduce the further spread of the epidemic. Early diagnosis of HIV infection also has certain disadvantages; it may cause extra stress to the individual and lead to discrimination against them. We investigated this figure decreased over time but remained relatively high in 1991 (38%).2 In a study performed in England and Wales, 49% of the patients who presented with an AIDS defining condition in 1989 had been unaware of their seropositive status nine months or less before AIDS was diagnosed. This figure fell over time but was still 43% in 1992.3 The reasons for diagnostic delay should be studied in order to rectify this situation.