Experts highlight risk of late HIV diagnosis

Half the people diagnosed HIV positive in Ireland last year had the virus for long periods before getting tested, latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show.

Categorised by medics as “late presenters”, they risked missing out on advances in HIV treatment that allow many patients have a perfectly normal life expectancy.

A drive is under way to encourage anyone who has even the slightest reason to believe they might be at risk of HIV infection to get tested before the virus gets a chance to cause irreparable damage.