HIV seroconverters: Using surveillance to characterise people with incident HIV infection in Victoria, Australia

This paper describes a cohort of people living in Victoria, Australia, diag nosed with incident HIV infection and identified through routine HIV survei llance. All HIV diagnoses notified to the Victorian HIV Registry between Ja nuary 1997 and September 1998 were included. Infections were classified as incident if there was a prior negative test and/or seroconversion illness w ithin 12 months of the first positive HIV test. During the study period the re were 277 notifications received of which 70 (25%) were incident infectio ns (seroconversions). People with incident infection were aged 36 years (+/ - 10), from an Anglo background (76%) and living in Melbourne (91%). Seroco nverters were more likely to have acquired their infection in Victoria (76% ), through male-to-male sexual contact (86%), and from casual or anonymous partners (67%). Cohorts of individuals with incident HIV infection provide a valuable resource for understanding the dynamics of HIV acquisition and n atural history of the infection.