US HIV rate 'higher than thought'

by Sanjay Jha | August 3, 2008 at 12:35 am

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The No of Aids victim in US is much higher than previously estimated. This is a wake up call and reveals that the infection is increasing in the proportion of epidemic and annual number of new infections is around 40,000. There is pressing need to expand the access to HIV prevention measures among vunlerable sections. The revised estimated and the methodology behind it are due to be presented at the opening of an international Aids conference in Mexico City on Sunday. Ahead of the meeting, thousands of activists marched through the city to protest at discrimination against people with HIV.

The number of Americans infected with the HIV virus each year is much higher than current government estimates, US health officials have said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 56,000 people had become infected with the virus that causes Aids in 2006.
That is substantially more than the earlier annual estimate of 40,000.
However, the CDC said the rise was due to improved detection methods, rather than an increase in infections.
For the first time, new blood tests can tell how recently an HIV infection occurred, allowing researchers to pinpoint the year it happened.
The increase is also thought to be due to new statistical methods.