Fall in number of undiagnosed HIV infections in the US

Latest HIV prevalence figures show that there has been a fall in the number of undiagnosed HIV infections in the US. The figures, reported in the October 3^rd edition of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), also show that there were just over 1,100,000 people living with HIV in the United States at the end of 2006.

Officials in the US are encouraged by the fall in the number of undiagnosed HIV infections with Dr Richard Wolitski, acting director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention commenting: “This is very good news, and although more needs to be done, we should be extremely pleased to see this important sign of progress.”

The latest estimate of the number of people with HIV in the US is based on names-based HIV reporting from 40 US states. On the basis of these figures, researchers calculated that there were 1,106,400 adults with HIV in the US.

Gay and other men who have sex with men remain the group most affected by HIV. Researchers calculated that 532,000 gay and other men who have sex with men are HIV-positive, which is some 48% of all US HIV infections.

A little over 300,000 people (28% of all infections) are thought to have been infected with HIV through heterosexual sex. Injecting drug use is estimated to be responsible for 19% of all infections, involving a little under 205,000 individuals.

The new US data shows the uneven racial distribution of the country’s HIV epidemic. African Americans account for 46% of all HIV infections, with white people accounting for 35%, and Hispanics and Latinos 18%.

There is also an indication in the latest data of the “greying” of the HIV epidemic, with just over a quarter of all HIV-positive individuals aged over 50.

Although the proportion of undiagnosed HIV infections is estimated to have fallen from 25% to 21%, there is still concern about the large number of patients diagnosed late. Noting that 38% of patients diagnosed with HIV progressed to AIDS within a year, Dr Wolitski commented: “this represents far too many individuals who are unable to take advantage of life-saving treatments and prevention services that could drastically improve quality of life for themselves and their partners.”

The MMWR report notes that despite increased HIV prevalence, HIV incidence in the US has remained steady in recent years. As individuals often reduce their sexual risk-taking after their diagnosis with HIV, the report’s authors believe that increasing the proportion of individuals who know they are HIV-positive could help to reduce the number of new infections. They note recent efforts to promote HIV testing amongst communities with a high HIV prevalence.