The data on new diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS cases in Italy as of 31 December 2022 are published in the Istisan Newsletter volume 36, n. 11 – November 2023, drawn up by the AIDS Operations Center (COA) of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), with the contribution of some members of the Technical Health Committee of the Ministry of Health and representatives of the General Directorate of Health Prevention of the Ministry of Health.
New diagnoses of HIV infection In 2022, they are 1.888 the new diagnoses of HIV infection equal to an incidence of 3.2 new diagnoses per 100,000 residents.
The incidence (cases/population) of new HIV diagnoses has been decreasing since 2012, with a more noticeable reduction from 2018 to 2020 and a slight increase in the last two years post-COVID-19. Italy, in terms of incidence of new HIV diagnoses, is in 2022 below average estimated in Western European countries and the European Union (5.1 cases per 100,000 residents in both areas). In 2022, the highest incidence of new HIV diagnoses is found in age range 30-39 years, while until 2019 it was found in the 25-29 age group. The higher number of diagnoses has for several years been attributable to sexual transmission and, in descending order, to males who have sex with males (MSM), heterosexual males, and heterosexual females. Since 2016, a decrease of the number of new HIV diagnoses in foreigners, both male and female. Since 2015 increases the share of people it comes to diagnosed late HIV infection (with low CD4 or in AIDS): in 2022, 2/3 of male heterosexuals and more than half of female heterosexuals were diagnosed with CD4 <350 cells/µL. In 2022, almost half of people newly diagnosed with HIV will take an HIV test due to the presence of HIV-related symptoms or conditions; this proportion has increased compared to previous years. In 2022, the majority of people newly diagnosed with AIDS discover that they are HIV positive in the few months before the diagnosis of AIDS, with a stable proportion compared to 2021. Cases of AIDS In 2022, there were 403 new AIDS diagnoses, equal to an incidence of 0.7 per 100,000 residents. From 1982, the year of the first diagnosis of AIDS in Italy, to 31 December 2022, 72,556 cases of AIDS have been reported to the COA. The median age at AIDS diagnosis shows an increase over time, both among males and females. In 2002 the median was 40 years for males and 36 for females, in 2022 the medians have risen to 46 years for males and 44 for females. Over the last decade, the proportion of AIDS cases in females among adult cases has remained substantially stable, in 2013 females were 24.6% while in 2022 they were 25.8%. The number of deaths in people with AIDS has remained virtually stable since 2014.