Undiagnosed and Unreported AIDS Deaths: Results From the San Fransisco Medical Examiner

To determine whether AIDS surveillance misses a substantial number of persons who die with unreported AIDS, the authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of decedents examined by the San Francisco Medical Examiner. HIV-infected decedents were found to be more likely than those uninfected to have died of suicide or drug abuse/overdose. To decrease deaths among HIV-infected persons, the authors suggest suicide prevention & substance abuse treatment programs are needed. (10 refs)