Foreign-Born Individuals with HIV in King County, WA: A Glimpse of the Future of HIV?

Abstract

To better understand country of birth-related shifts in the demography of people newly diagnosed with HIV infection, we compared demographic and clinical characteristics of foreign-born and U.S.-born residents of King County, WA diagnosed with HIV from 2006 to 2015. The proportion of cases that were foreign-born increased from 23 to 34% during this time. Most foreign-born cases were born in Africa (34%), Latin America (32%), Asia (22%), or Europe (7%). Latin Americans and Asians were similar to U.S.-born individuals by HIV risk factor and gender, while Africans were more likely to be female and less often men who have sex with men. In 2015, approximately 15% of cases presumptively newly diagnosed in King County were foreign-born individuals who self-reported a pre-immigration HIV diagnosis. Increases in foreign-born individuals previously diagnosed out of country may lead to inaccuracy in the count of new diagnoses, including an over-estimate of community-acquired HIV in King County.

Keywords: Foreign-born; HIV; Immigrants; Migrants; Surveillance.

Figures

Figure 1. Birth regions of 2724 King County, WA residents diagnosed with HIV 2006–2015*

*Figure excludes 5% with missing country of birth **“Other” category includes people born in Europe (59%), U.S. Territories (14%), Canada (14%), and Oceania (14%).