Rapid disease progression and the rate of spread of the HIV epidemic

Traditional HIV epidemic models suggest that rapid disease progression may lead to reduced transmission because of a decreased time for the spread of the virus. We present a transmission model structured by age and duration o f infection, and propose that rapid disease progression may lead to higher viraemia at a younger age, when individuals are more sexually active. We su ggest that rapid disease progression should be considered as a factor in th e scale of the HIV epidemic in Africa.