By Sean Henahan, Access Excellence

VANCOUVER (July 8,'96) While the level of HIV infection appears to be leveling off in the US, it has stabilized at a high level, according to CDC data released at the XIth International AIDS Conference.

An estimated 650,000 to 900,000 Americans were infected with HIV in 1992. That is an increase from an estimated 400,000 to 450,000 in 1984, according to John M. Karon, Ph.D., Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Ga.

"The number of Americans living with HIV increased significantly during the mid-to late-1980s and now may have stabilized, but at an unacceptably high level. Fortunately, the number of Americans living with HIV no longer appears to be increasing rapidly, and may even be declining in some groups," he told a media briefing.

The study estimated the number of Americans living with HIV infection (HIV prevalence) and the change in prevalence since 1984 by analyzing data from three different sources, including AIDS case reports, a national survey of childbearing women and a national household survey of current health status.

The researchers concluded that approximately one in 300 Americans (age 13 and older) are infected with HIV. HIV prevalence is higher among men than women, with approximately one in 160 men infected compared to approximately one in 1,000 women. However, the rate of increase has been greater in the proportion of infected women. The number of women infected in 1992 was at least three times greater than the number infected in 1984. In contrast, the number of infected men was at most twice as great.

The researchers also found that AIDS has struck a disproportionate amount of African Americans and Hispanics. Approximately one in 50 black men and one in 100 Hispanic men were infected in 1992, compared to approximately one in 250 white men. Approximately one in 160 black women and one in 400 Hispanic women were infected, compared to approximately one in 3,000 white women.

"These estimates confirm the disproportionate impact of the HIV epidemic on communities of color," Karon said.

The researchers estimate that approximately half of all HIV-infected Americans in 1992 were gay and bisexual men, one-fourth were injecting drug users and 15 percent became infected through heterosexual contact. And, while approximately half were gay men, the other behavioral groups showed greater relative increases in HIV prevalence since 1986.

"In fact, the number of infected Americans increased most rapidly from 1986 to 1992 among persons infected through heterosexual contact, tripling or quadrupling in that group," Karon said.

"The results presented in this report, as well as those from other CDC HIV seroprevalence surveys, suggest that HIV prevalence is not increasing rapidly in the U.S. and that prevalence may have begun to decline in some groups ... However, this decline should not be reason for complacence: Many new infections continue to occur and each year more than 60,000 persons have an AIDS-OI (opportunistic illness) diagnosed. Furthermore, through 1994 more than 325,000 U.S. residents diagnosed as having AIDS had died, including more than 55,000 in 1994 alone

The CDC data appeared in a special issue of JAMA.

Related information on the Internet

XIth International AIDS Conference

JAMA HIV Info.

HIV Replication Primer

HIV Pathogenesis

YAHOO AIDS DIRECTORY