25 years After the First Report of AIDS, CDC Reports Rise in Communities of Color

Living with AIDS.  A former English teacher and contractor. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new report showing the uneven and devastating impact of HIV on communities of color and men who have sex with men (MSM). The report reveals that new infection rates in black and Hispanic communities, and among MSM, represent a disproportionately high number of overall new infections.

Using new technology which can pinpoint the timeframe of infection, the CDC reports that of new infections, 73% were in males, 45% were in blacks, and 53% were in MSM. The number of new HIV infections in black MSM between the ages of 13 and 29 was 1.6 times the number in white MSM in the same age group, while the HIV incidence rate for black females was 14.7 times the rate for white females, and the rate for Hispanic females was 3.8 times the rate for white females.

CDC has created an HIV incidence surveillance system in selected areas of the United States as a component of its national human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) reporting system. The new system has the ability to distinguish recent from long-standing HIV infection and estimate the number of new HIV infections occurring each year in the United States. CDC conducted a detailed analysis of data from the new surveillance system.

The results indicated that, in 2006, of new HIV infections among males, 72% were in MSM. Among MSM with new infections, 46% were white, 35% were black, and 19% were Hispanic. Among MSM aged 13--29 years, the number of new HIV infections in blacks (5,220) was 1.6 times the number in whites (3,330) and 2.3 times the number in Hispanics (2,300). Among females, the predominant HIV transmission category was high-risk heterosexual contact, which accounted for 80% of new infections. The new incidence data will help guide local, state, and national intervention measures tailored to those populations at greatest risk for HIV infection.

The distribution of new HIV infections in 2006 demonstrates that, more than 25 years after the first report of AIDS, the disease continues to affect the MSM population more than any other in the United States. Although MSM represented the most new infections in the white, black, and Hispanic populations, the age distribution of persons with new infections suggests important differences by race and ethnicity. Among black and Hispanic MSM, most new infections were in persons aged 13--29, whereas, among white MSM, most new infections were in persons aged 30--39 years. 

 

 Graph courtesy of the CDC.