Officials understated number of new HIV infections in US

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

http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/8/212037