ATLANTA - The number of Americans infected by the AIDS virus each year is higher than the government has been estimating.
That's according to a new report by U.S. health officials.
The country had roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006, a dramatic increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the last dozen years. Officials say the new figures are due to a better blood test and new statistical methods. They say they're not due to a worsening of the epidemic.
But the new numbers will likely refocus U.S. attention from the effect of AIDS overseas to what the disease is doing closer to home.
A spokesman for the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors says ``This is the biggest news for public health and HIV/AIDS that we've had in a while.''
CDC HIV fact sheet: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/us.html
JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org
Tuesday
July 1st, 2025
2:04AM
