Charlotte Observer, Friday, October 3, 2008 — New estimates of the prevalence of HIV infection among adolescents and adults in the United States put the total number of cases in 2006 — diagnosed and undiagnosed — at about 1.1 million. The figure means the infection rate is nearly 550 people for every 100,000 in the population. The total is similar to 2003 estimates, but officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say improved surveillance and new methods for calculating the estimates mean the two can't be directly compared. The highest incidence of infection continues to be found among black men, with 2,388 cases per 100,000 population, the CDC said. That is six times the rate for white men (395 per 100,000). Black women are infected at nearly 18 times the rate of white women (1,122 versus 63 cases per 100,000). The CDC study found the highest percentage of cases - 48 percent - can be attributed to male-to-male sexual contact.
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