HIV infections acquired through heterosexual intercourse are increasing in the UK, but still represent a minority of all new cases, according to an article in the British Medical Journal published online March 10th.

Most of these new HIV infections are also acquired abroad, report Dr. Sarah Dougan and colleagues at the Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections in London.

The researchers report that approximately 21,000 adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland diagnosed between 1985 and 2003 were infected through heterosexual intercourse, representing less than 10 percent of all infections diagnosed in heterosexuals.

Of these 21,000 individuals, only about nine percent are believed to have been infected in the UK. Sixty-two percent were probably infected by a heterosexual partner infected outside of Europe and 30 percent by a partner in Europe or the UK.

“Homosexual men remain at greatest risk of acquiring HIV in the United Kingdom, accounting for an estimated 80 percent of newly diagnosed infections that were probably acquired in the United Kingdom,” the authors add.

However, because of the increase in infections among heterosexuals, “the likelihood of heterosexual transmission within the country will increase, particularly among ethnic minorities,” Dougan’s group concludes.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal Online First, March 10, 2005.