New report raises U.S. AIDS rate 40 percent

[Guest guest]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25988064

New report raises U.S. AIDS rate 40 percent

Government agency says better measuring methods led to fresh estimate

updated 10:37 a.m. ET, Sat., Aug. 2, 2008

WASHINGTON - At least 56,000 people become infected with the AIDS

virus every year in the United States — 40 percent more than previous

estimates, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention.

The CDC stressed that actual infection rates have not risen but said

better methods of measuring new diagnosed infections and then

extrapolating this to the general population led to the fresh estimates.

" CDC's first estimates from this system reveal that the HIV epidemic

is — and has been — worse than previously known. Results indicate that

approximately 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States

in 2006, " the CDC said in a statement.

" This figure is roughly 40 percent higher than CDC's former estimate

of 40,000 infections per year, which was based on limited data and

less precise methods. "

Globally, 33 million people are infected with the human

immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS and 2 million die of it each year.

Risky sex

The CDC estimates roughly 1 million Americans are infected with the

virus. Dr. Fenton, who heads CDC's AIDS branch, said 15,000 to

18,000 Americans die every year of AIDS.

" The data really confirm that there is a severe impact of this

epidemic among gay and bisexual men in the United States ... as well

as black men and women, " Fenton said in a telephone interview.

More than 28,000 of the new infections are among men who have sex with

men, the new estimates show. Close to 17,000 are among heterosexuals —

and 15,000 of these are women.

" These data are confirming what we had known before, " Fenton said. " It

also mirrors what we see about sexually transmitted diseases and

changes in risk behavior among men who have sex with men. "

Many recent studies have shown gay and bisexual men are having risky,

unprotected sex more often than before, perhaps emboldened by the

knowledge that the disease can be treated.

But AIDS remains incurable and is fatal if not treated. There is no

vaccine and the drugs stop working if people do not take them

precisely as directed.

Black Americans hit hard

The numbers, published in the Journal of the American Medical

Association, also confirm that black Americans are seven times more

likely to be infected than whites.

" The reality is that it is a wake-up call for all of us, " Fenton said.

" There are things that you and I can do to stop the disease —

encourage others to use condoms consistently and correctly, abstain

from sex. "

AIDS spreads rampantly in prisons, he added.

Communities need to provide better education and testing services,

Fenton said.

Fears of being stigmatized have stopped people from being tested -- 25

percent of those infected do not know it and can pass along the virus.

But there was some comfort in the numbers.

" It is important to note that the new estimate does not represent an

actual increase in the annual number of new HIV infections, " CDC said.

" In fact, CDC's analysis suggests that the epidemic has been roughly

stable since the late 1990s, though the number of new HIV infections

remains unacceptably high, " it said.

" The analysis shows that new infections peaked in the mid-1980s at

approximately 130,000 infections per year and reached a low of about

50,000 in the early 1990s. "

Cocktails of HIV drugs can keep patients alive and healthy but not

everyone gets them, Fenton said.

Too many Americans are diagnosed late, after the virus has already

damaged the immune system beyond repair, he said.