Last week the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that Blacks continue to account for the majority of new HIV infections in the United States. The statistics in the report are from 2006 and look at HIV incidence rates. Incidence refers to how many new infections are diagnosed in a year vs. prevalence which looks at the rate of HIV infection within a certain demographic group cumulatively over years.

In addition to the rates of new infections being primarily among Blacks, new HIV testing technology has also found that there are more new HIV infections occurring a year than was previously believed. The number the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has used for many years was 40,000 new infections in the US annually. However, in the August 3rd JAMA report, a new number of 56,300 estimated new infections was revealed, which is an almost 40% increase over their previous estimation of new infections annually.

New HIV Testing Technology

This new testing technology is called STARHS (serologic testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion). This technology allows scientists to be able to tell whether or not a persons HIV infection has occurred within approximately 5 months of when the person has been tested. The importance of the ability to use this technology for tracking incidence is quite significant because we can now obtain a much more accurate estimate of new infections. For example, say a man had his last HIV test in 2005, which was negative, then he decides to test again in 2008 and his result is positive. Prior to STARHS technology, this persons diagnosed infection would be lumped into the incidence rate for 2008, however he actually could have been infected after getting his test in 2005 or in 2006 or 2007. STARHS testing will allow this persons blood sample to be tested to see if the infection occurred within the last 5 months or so, giving us a much more accurate picture as to whether or not the infection actually occurred in 2008 or not.

HIV Incidence by Race/Ethnicity

A report released by the CDC last week states that “impact of HIV greater among Blacks than any other racial or ethnic group”. Non-Hispanic Blacks had 7 times the rate of HIV infection than Whites in 2006. Blacks accounted for 45% of new HIV infections which is 24,900 of the 56, 300 estimated new infections. The chart below compares rates between the major racial/ethnic groups in the US, with Blacks having a little over 80 infections per 100,000 compared to ~ 30 for Hispanics, ~10 for Whites, ~15 for American Indian/Alaskan Natives and ~8 per 100,000 for Asian/Pacific Islander populations.

Rates Among MSM

This same CDC report states that “gay and bisexual men of all races are most severely affected by HIV”. An estimated 53% of new infections occur among men who have sex with men (MSM), followed by high risk heterosexual contact accounting for 31%. The chart below shows the breakdown in transmission categories that are tracked by the CDC.

Though, the report doesn’t talk about the ethnic breakdown of HIV infections among MSM, when you look at the overall rates of infection for Blacks and then the rate of infection for MSM, it’s clear to see that this epidemic continues to most disproportionately impact Black MSM. This report is yet another call to action for individuals, communities and government to work together to stem the tide of HIV infections in the United States.

All of the information in this post and the charts came from this article on the CDC’s website.