[Causes of death among HIV infected adults in French Guyana and the French West Indies in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)]

Abstract

Objective: The survey "Mortality 2000" had for aim to describe the distribution of causes of death in HIV-infected adults in France.

Method: Hospital wards involved in the management of HIV infection prospectively reported deaths occurring in 2000. The causes of death were documented using a standardized questionnaire.

Results: In French Guyana and the French West Indies the five referent wards reported 81 deaths. The main underlying causes of death were AIDS-related (67%), non-AIDS and non-hepatitis related cancer (9%), cardiovascular disease (7%), bacterial infections (5%), and end stage liver disease (4%). Among AIDS-related deaths, the more frequent diseases were histoplasmosis and toxoplasmosis in Guyana and atypical mycobacterial infection, tuberculosis, and cytomegalovirus disease in the West Indies. Median age was 43 years, transmission of HIV infection was heterosexual in 79%; 56% lived in poor socio-economic conditions, and 30% were born abroad. One out of five had been recently diagnosed with HIV infection and one out of three had never received antiretroviral treatment.

Conclusion: In 2000, two in three death cases in HIV-infected adults were AIDS-related in French Guyana and the French West Indies. Improved strategies for screening HIV infection before the occurrence of AIDS are still needed taking into consideration poor socio-economic and migrant conditions.