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CDC: US AIDS Epidemic Far From Over

Statisticians for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had predicted that about 40,000 new cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), would be diagnosed each year in the US alone but the grim reality is that as many as 56,300 Americans became infected in 2006. New technologies can distinguish the difference between a new viral infection and one that has been lingering without detection. These new technologies reveal a higher likelihood of contracting the virus among gay and bisexual men of all races but black and Hispanic men are getting the infection in higher rates than white men. And the age at which the virus is contracted differs across racial divides.

A newly released report from the CDC indicates a higher new infection rate among white men who are gay or bisexual who are in their 30s or 40s but younger black men, in their teens and 20s, are more likely to be infected than gay and bisexual black men of other ages.

Even though the black population in the US accounts for only about 12% of the entire general population, more than 40% of the new infections occurred in black Americans. Black women are being hit the hardest, with their likelihood of infection running as high as 15 times more than white women. The rate of infection for Hispanic women is four times higher than that of white women.

Black men are six times more likely to be infected than white men, a rate of incidence thought to be attributed to the higher rate of street drug use among young black men, who are also thought to be more prone to engage in risky sexual behaviors. Other theories under consideration for the higher rate of HIV infection among younger black men is that these men are more likely to be in prison, where the risk of HIV infection is exceptionally high. Young black men are also more likely to have older gay and bisexual partners than young white gay and bisexual men. These older partners are more likely to be already infected themselves, thus spreading the disease to their younger partners.

The CDC considers this latest report to be a “powerful reminder” that AIDS is still occurring in epidemic numbers in the US but the meticulously detailed analysis of the latest data highlights which segments of the population are in need of enhanced awareness and prevention programs. In spite of prevention programs provided on local, state, and federal levels, about 80% of newly infected HIV patients had been missed by these preventive efforts.

Source: CDC

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