Medical News, Epidemiology, Public Health: CDC Study of HIV Transmission Rates in the U.S. – 2006

Data Source/Photo Credit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/CDC_Incidence_MMWR.pdf

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A press release (excerpt below) issued Thursday, Sept 11 2008 by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention references data collected by CDC’s new human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome surveillance system for the year 2006.

Analysis of the data shows higher incidence of HIV transmission among specific populations in the U.S. than had been previously estimated by epidemiologists and for the first time, the information collected is broken out by categories of race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and route of transmission.

” On August 2, 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new estimate of the annual number of new HIV infections (HIV incidence) in the United States, one revealing that the HIV epidemic is — and has been — worse than previously known. That estimate indicated that approximately 56,300 people were newly infected with HIV in the United States in 2006 (95% Confidence Interval: 48,200–64,500), which is higher than CDC’s previous estimate of 40,000. The new estimate also confirmed that gay and bisexual men of all races, African Americans, and Latinos were most heavily affected by HIV. Published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR, September 12, 2008) this data provides a more in-depth look at HIV incidence in specific U.S. populations.“