|
  |
|
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Experts fear HIV rates increasing in U.S.
From Christy Feig
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- After years of steady rates, some health experts said they are concerned the number of HIV infections are on the rise in the United States. The 25 states that track HIV cases are reporting an increase in new diagnoses, a striking change from the 1990s when the number of new infections remained stable at about 40,000 a year. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. "We're very concerned about the possibility of a resurgence in HIV in the United States," said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers reported findings on HIV/AIDS as part of this week's 10th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston. Along with the 8 percent increase in cases reported by the states, Valdiserri said that in 2001 -- for the first time in eight years -- the number of new HIV cases rose by 1 percent. But Valdiserri cautioned that it was too early to tell if the numbers indicate a trend. "These are only 25 states, and they do exclude some of the larger states like New York and California," he said. "But certainly these numbers are very worrisome." The new infections most often are seen in young gay men and both women and men in the black community, according to the National Institutes of Health. "Several factors seem to contribute to this high-risk behavior," said Dr. Harold Jaffe, also with the CDC, "including fading memories of the early epidemic, illicit drug use and treatment optimism." Sabina Hirshfield, director of the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City, said another factor might be tied to the use of the Internet to meet potential sex partners. Her clinic's survey of almost 3,000 gay men who said they frequent chat rooms found that 84 percent claimed they meet sex partners online and almost two-thirds admitted to unprotected sex. According to the CDC, some 900,000 Americans are infected with HIV, and one-third of them -- almost 300,000 -- don't even know it. The powerful and expensive medicines that today prolong life for many people with HIV have changed people's attitudes toward the disease, some officials said. "HIV is a serious disease," said Cornelius Baker, director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington. "It's not as simple as just taking a pill and you're OK."
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
