Transitioning through AIDS epidemics - gender and temporality.

Objective: To understand the evolution of AIDS over time in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, using incidence, lethality, and mortality coefficients.

Methods: A descriptive epidemiological study based on time series analysis of secondary data from the Notifiable Diseases Information System reported between 1985 and 2012.

Results: The prevalence of AIDS was higher among men, with evidence of feminization during the first 14 years of the epidemic. There was no statistically significant sex difference in AIDS lethality. Women were 1.3 times more likely to survive than men.

Conclusions: Gender differences must be considered when designing new HIV/AIDS prevention strategies.