To evaluate the current trends in HIV transmission in Greece, the authors conducted a retrospective study of HIV-infected individuals reported to the Hellenic Center for Infectious Diseases Control.

Since the beginning of the epidemic and into the early 1990s, most of Greece's HIV cases were among men who have sex with men (MSM). After the mid-1990s, the proportion of MSM among HIV cases declined slightly, then stabilized, but homosexuals remained the dominant population with HIV. However, heterosexual transmission increased steadily and has become a frequent route for the spread of HIV/AIDS in recent years. Cases in this category occurred most frequently in people originating from or traveling to countries where heterosexual transmission prevails. The researchers also found a significant proportion of cases classified as "undetermined," which they partially attributed to increased heterosexual transmission among people, especially women, without obvious high-risk behaviors.

"The HIV/AIDS surveillance system must evolve in order to find the new unreported risk information and identify the population groups at higher risk," the authors concluded. "This will help to implement preventive policies and information campaigns addressed to target populations with special attention paid to immigrants, women, and marginalized communities."

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