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17% Increase in HIV in USA in Last 4 Yrs; Blacks Most Disproportionately Affected
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"Characteristics of persons living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2004 - 33 states in the United States'
Reported by Jules Levin
XVI Intl AIDS Conference, Toronto, Aug 16, 2006
Campsmith M.1, Hu S.2
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV Incidence and Case Surveillance Branch, Atlanta, United States, 2Northrop Grumman, Information Systems Support, Atlanta, United States
Background: In the United States (U.S.), over 1 million persons are estimated to be living with HIV infection (both diagnosed and undiagnosed); this number is growing in part due to use of antiretroviral therapies. All states in the U.S. conduct confidential name-based AIDS surveillance; 33 states have had confidential name-based HIV infection surveillance since 2000 (representing 63% of all estimated AIDS cases in 2004). Information on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is necessary to guide resource allocation for treatment, care and prevention decisions.
Methods: Analysis of HIV/AIDS surveillance data from 33 states in the U.S. Data are statistically adjusted for reporting delays and redistribution of unknown HIV transmission categories.
Results:
- An estimated 462,164 persons were living with diagnosed HIV/AIDS at the end of 2004 in the 33 states.
- By sex, 72% were males and 28% females;
- 55% were 25-44 years old.
- Distribution by race/ethnicity was: 48% black, 34% white, 17% Hispanic and <1% each Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native.
- The prevalence rate per 100,000 is 120 for whites, 874 for blacks, 331 for Hispanics, 50 for asian/pacific islander, and 11 for American Indian/Alaskan. The overall prevalence is 248 per 100,000.
- Blacks made up 13% of the general population in these 33 states.
- The most common HIV transmission category for men was sexual contact with men (60%); for women it was heterosexual contact (71%).
- The prevalence rate was greatest in cities with population over 500,000 (333/100,000) compared to smaller cities (140/100,000) and nonmetropolitan areas (94/100,000).
- The overall prevalence rate of persons living with HIV/AIDS increased 17% from 2001 to 2004 and varied by demographic factors.
Conclusions:
The increased prevalence of persons in the U.S. living with HIV infection presents challenges for planners and providers of medical, prevention, and social services. Certain groups have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS relative to their population size. Culturally-appropriate strategies to help infected persons prevent further transmission, as well as encourage people to learn their HIV status, are necessary to decrease new infections and curb the epidemic. This analysis is limited to 33 States and it excludes California, Illinois, and Maryland. And of course the analysis does not include persons who have not been tested and diagnosed with HIV.
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