Cumulative AIDS incidence and altered pneumonia mortality.

We grouped New Jersey residents according to age, sex, race, and residence-specific cumulative incidence of AIDS since the onset of the AIDS epidemic: less than 15, 15-99, 100-499, and greater than or equal to 500 cases per 100,000 people, respectively. We determined mortality from bacterial and viral pneumonias (International Classification of Diseases ICD] 480.0-486.9) from underlying cause of death files. Between 1980 and 1986, pneumonia mortality increased from 15.1 deaths per 100,000 per year (95% confidence interval CI] 10.4, 19.7) to 25.0 deaths per 100,000 per year (95% CI 19.2, 30.8), an increase of 10.0 deaths per 100,000 per year (95% CI 2.6, 17.3), among those 25-44 years of age in the highest cumulative incidence group for AIDS. Increases in other population subgroups were approximately proportional to each subgroup's AIDS cumulative incidence. In particular, pneumonia mortality did not increase among those 25-44 years of age in groups with low cumulative incidence of AIDS. Deficiency of cell-mediated immunity, a diagnosis commonly applied in AIDS cases, was listed as a secondary diagnosis in 14% of the pneumonia deaths of persons 25-44 years of age in 1986 and in none of those in 1980.