The New Face of HIV/AIDS

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

As of December 2004, an estimated 415,193 people are reported to be living with AIDS.¹ In all, since the disease was first reported over 20 years ago, an estimated 944,306 people have developed AIDS in the United States.² Of those, 529,113 (56%) had died as of December 2004.³

Many of those who are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are unaware of their HIV status and may unknowingly transmit the virus to others. An estimated 55,000 - 58,500 new HIV infections occur in the United States each year.4 Of those, approximately 25% of HIV positive people are undiagnosed and unaware of their HIV infection.⁵ Between 54 percent and 70 percent of sexual transmissions of HIV are via people unaware of their HIV status. In America, 40 percent of HIV diagnoses are made late, when the patient's disease is already advanced.⁶

Who is infected? The changing face of HIV/AIDS

In general, the number of new infections each year is stable. But the face of infections is not--some populations have always been at risk; in others, the risk is increasing.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) and injection drug users (IDUs) represent the largest population living with HIV (45%), followed by those infected through heterosexual contact (27%), individuals infected through injection drug use (IDU) (22%), and finally those who are both MSM and injection drug users (5%).⁷

However, the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States is changing. Approximately 5 million Americans are considered to be at high risk for HIV infection.⁸ At increasing risk are women, young people, and people of color (see statistics on specific communities of color in the Communities at Risk section).

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2004. Vol. 16. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2005
² CDC. Basic Statistics from HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2004. Vol. 16. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2005
³ CDC. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2004. Vol. 16. Atlanta: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2005
⁴ CDC. HIV Incidence [online]. 2008. [cited 2008 Aug 15]. Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/incidence.htm.
⁵ Glynn, M. and Rhodes, P. Estimated HIV Prevalence In The United States At The End Of 2003.National HIV Prevention Conference, 2005 Jun 12 – 15 (abstract no. T1-B1101)
⁶ CDC. HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update September 22, 2006
⁷ CDC. Comprehensive HIV Prevention: Essential Components of a Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent Domestic HIV
From Glynn, M., et al. Estimated HIV prevalence in the United States at the end of 2003. 2005 National HIV Prevention Conference; June 12 – 15, 2005. Atlanta, GA Abstract 595.
⁸ Prevalence of sexual and drug-related HIV risk behaviors in the US adult population: results of the 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 1999;21:148-156