The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released updated estimates of HIV prevalence in the U.S., saying that 1.1 million Americans were living with the virus at the end of 2006. The estimate comes at the heels of the CDC’s finding that the number of annual new HIV/AIDS infections in the U.S. is 40% higher than previously suspected.

According to the report, the increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS, in part, is because of more effective antiretroviral drugs that have prolonged the lives of those living with the disease. Based on 2006 data, the study supports previous findings that HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects communities of color and men who have sex with men. African Americans accounted for 46% of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2006, about 35% were white, and about 18% were Hispanic. Men accounted for nearly 75% of people living with HIV/AIDS but HIV rates are increasing in heterosexual women. Further, HIV prevalence rate among African American women was almost 18 times higher than the rate among white women and the HIV prevalence rate among Hispanic women was 4 times higher than the rate among white women. According to CDC, 1 in 5 (or 232,700 of the 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2006) were not aware of their HIV-positive status.

This reports shed light on the raging epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the United States. The report also recognizes the limitations of calculating HIV rates because the numbers represent only a portion of persons in the Unites States diagnosed with HIV. Overall HIV prevalence cannot be measured exactly since a large number of persons infected with HIV have neither been diagnosed nor reported to local surveillance programs. In addition, national HIV prevalence data are incomplete because local reporting systems for confidential, name-based HIV reporting have been fully implemented only since April 2008. The CDC advocates that accurate and timely data on the number of persons in the United States living with HIV are needed to guide planning for disease prevention, program evaluation, and resource allocation. In fact, the CDC estimates now that it will take an extra $4.8 billion dollars over the next five years to put a serious dent in the United States HIV incidence rate.

This illustrates the need for HIV testing and the importance of knowing one’s HIV status.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 10-3-08

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