IRELAND'S RATE of newly diagnosed HIV infections is higher than the European average, according to new figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
An HIV surveillance report has found Ireland had 82.9 cases per million of the population in 2007, compared with the EU average of 58.1.
Meanwhile, complete data relating to more than 50 HIV cases diagnosed in the first half of this year was not provided to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
An HPSC spokeswoman said basic information on all 170 newly diagnosed HIV cases, without names, was received from the laboratory that identified the cases, usually the National Virus Reference Laboratory.
However, for 53 of the 170 cases reported up to the end of June, incomplete data was received, making analysis and interpretation of trends difficult.
"Clinicians are not required by law to notify us about cases of HIV and Aids. While in general we get good voluntary support, it is an extra piece of work. We hope the completeness of the information we get from clinicians will improve," the spokeswoman said.
"The magnitude of the problem of missing data, and the fact that this is increasing, once again highlights the need for a statutory notification system for HIV infection in Ireland."
The spokeswoman said the HPSC considered extra information - such as country of birth, pregnancy, probable route of transmission and stage of disease - extremely helpful.
By June of this year, 4,951 diagnoses of HIV had been reported in the Republic since surveillance began.
During 2007, information on probable route of transmission was unavailable for 43 of the 170 newly diagnosed cases.
Among the remaining 127 cases, the HPSC found that 82 cases of HIV infection diagnosed in the first half of 2008 were heterosexually acquired. There were 29 new diagnoses among men who have sex with men.
There were 15 new diagnoses among drug users who inject and one case of mother-to-child transmission.
Of the newly diagnosed cases, 104 were men and 66 were women. Fifteen of the women were reported as pregnant.
Forty-two of the 127 cases were born in Ireland and 50 in sub-Saharan African.
Of the cases acquired heterosexually, 47 were born in sub-Saharan Africa and 18 in Ireland.
Of the 103 cases where specific area of residence was known, 68 were resident in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare - the HSE East area.
Of the 106 cases where the stage of infection was known, 75 were described as asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. Nine were diagnosed with Aids at the time of HIV diagnosis.
As the presence of a sexually transmitted infection (STI) facilitates the transmission and acquisition of HIV, the ongoing increase in annual notifications of STIs in Ireland is also of concern, according to the HPSC.
Meanwhile, the total number of deaths among Aids cases reported from 1983 to the end of June 2008 now stands at 408.
Data on HIV and Aids in Ireland are obtained from the national HIV case based reporting system, which is a voluntary anonymous surveillance system.
