[Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of persons newly diagnosed of HIV infection].

BACKGROUND We describe the characteristics of people with a recent diagnosis of HIV infection. PATIENTS AND METHOD Series of 126 new cases of HIV infection diagnosed in an infectious diseases Service. RESULTS Sexual transmission was the commonest form of infection (74%). Fifteen percent of individuals were aged over 50 years and 16% were immigrants. A late diagnosis (stage C) accounted for 36% of cases and it was associated with being more than 50 years old (OR: 5.1; 95% CI: 1.6-16.8). CONCLUSIONS It is necessary to implement HIV infection surveillance systems and to improve preventive services.