National survey of human immunodeficiency virus infection in Italian hemophiliacs : 1983–1987

Since 1983, the Medical-Scientific Committee of theFondazione dell’Emofilia has carried out annual national surveys of patients with hemophilia and other congenital bleeding disorders to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and related diseases. Clinical syndromes related to HIV infection were already present in a number of Italian hemophiliacs in 1983, but the first cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) only occurred in 1984. Subsequently, AIDS cases roughly doubled each year to reach the number of 57 in 1987. In this year, 637 of 2,792 patients (23%) were found to be anti-HIV-positive. The highest prevalence of seropositivity was found in hemophilia B patients (138 of 313, 44%), followed by hemophilia A (476 of 1,658, 29%), yon Willebrand's disease (23 of 650, 4%) and other congenital bleeding disorders (2 of 171, 1%). Only 3 cases of seroconversions were observed since 1986, following the nationwide adoption of heat-treated concentrates. The differences in the prevalence of HIV infection between hemophiliacs from Italy and other European countries are discussed