06/27/08

UNITED STATES:  HIV Diagnosis Rates Continue to Rise Among Young Men, African Americans

Between 2001 and 2006, HIV/AIDS diagnoses increased significantly among men who have sex with men (MSM) while declining in other demographic groups, according to a new report by CDC.

Sex between men accounted for more than 97,000 new diagnoses over the six years, nearly half the total number of new cases. Diagnoses linked to high-risk heterosexual sex and injecting drug use dropped annually by 4.4 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively, CDC said.

For MSM overall, diagnoses increased 1.5 percent annually. But for MSM ages 13-24, the annual increase was 12.4 percent. It was even higher for young African-American MSM - nearly 15 percent. Among African-American MSM of all ages, the annual increase was 1.9 percent.

"It's a grim report. It means roughly speaking that about half of the American AIDS epidemic is occurring among a few percent of the population," said Dr. Ronald Stall, a University of Pittsburgh professor of public health and an epidemiologist. "And the terrible trends we're seeing among white gay men are even amplified further among minority men."

CDC used data from 33 states that have had confidential, name-based HIV reporting since at least 2001. Some states with large gay and minority populations - including California, Illinois and Georgia - were not included. However, CDC noted that the racial disparities found in the report generally reflected national trends in AIDS epidemiology.

"Because of the new treatments, some men perceive it to be a less severe disease than it once was," said Dr. Richard Wolitski, acting director of CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "And this is a new generation that hasn't been personally affected in the same way that older men have been."

The report, "Trends in HIV/AIDS Diagnoses Among Men Who Have Sex with Men - 33 States, 2001-2006," was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (2008;57(25):681-686).

Source: New York Times:: David Tuller; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention