Abstract
The time from infection with HIV to symptoms and AIDS is an important parameter in describing the natural course of HIV infection. We here describe disease progression in a group of 389 homo -and bisexual men. Of these 102 had known dates of infection, and during an average follow-up time of 31 months (range 2–108), 28 of these progressed from being symptom-free (CDC group II and III) to having some symptom from CDC group IV; 7 progressed to AIDS. By life-table analysis, the estimated average time from seroconversion to first symptom is approximately 5 years and to AIDS approximately 8 years. Very few patients are diagnosed with AIDS the first 2 years after infection, but after that the risk seems to be 5–10% per year. Increasing use of anti-HIV medication will render studies of this kind difficult in the future.