CDC underestimated number of new HIV infections in the U.S.

[DixieBelle]

It's a long article worth reading. I cut out some snippets here -

ATLANTA - The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is much higher than the government has been estimating, U.S. health officials reported Sunday, acknowledging that their numbers have understated the level of the epidemic.

The new infection estimate is based on a blood test that for the first time can tell how recently an HIV infection occurred.

Yearly estimates allow better recognition of trends in the U.S. epidemic. For example, the new report found that infections are falling among heterosexuals and injection drug users.

Some experts celebrated that finding, saying it's a tribute to prevention efforts, including nearly 200 syringe exchange programs now operating in 36 states despite a federal ban on funding for such projects.

But they also lamented the CDC's finding that infections continue to increase in gay and bisexual men, who accounted for more than half of HIV infections in 2006. Also, more than a third of those with HIV are younger than 30. Some advocates say that suggests a need for more prevention efforts, particularly targeting younger gay and bisexual men.

Some said more attention needs to focus on prevention among blacks, who account for nearly half of annual HIV infections, according to the new CDC report. A recent report by the Black AIDS Institute concluded that if black Americans were their own nation, they would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with HIV.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080802/ap_on_he_me/med_hiv_infections

[Chris_]

Boo hoo Boo hoo!

HIV is a lifestyle illness -- if you stay monogamous and don't do gay sex or needle-based drugs the chances of getting HIV are one in a couple of million.

If they would have put the money they have wasted on HIV into diseases that strike people for no reason, like MD, those diseases would be closer to being cured.