Increase in the spread of human immunodeficiency virus in Sweden, 2007

As of the end of 2007, 8,014 people have been reported as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive in Sweden. About 4,500 of them were still alive and living in Sweden at the end of 2007. Many deaths occurred before effective antiretroviral treatment became available in 1996, and a substantial number of those who tested positive were only temporarily in Sweden. From the late 1980s until 2002, around 300 new cases were reported annually. In recent years, there has been a gradual increase, and in 2007, a total of 541 cases were reported, which is the highest figure since the mid-1980ies, when it first became possible to diagnose HIV infections (Figure 1).