CDC on Saturday ahead of the XVII International AIDS Conference, which opened Sunday in Mexico City, released updated national estimates of the annual number of new HIV infections that occur in the U.S., the Washington Post reports (Brown, Washington Post, 8/3). The new data were published Sunday in a special HIV/AIDS issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which was released at the AIDS conference (CDC release, 8/3).

The new analysis found there were about 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006, the most recent year for which data are available, about 40% higher than CDC's long-standing estimate of 40,000 for each of the last several years (Washington Post, 8/3). According to CDC, the number of new infections likely was never as low as the previous estimate of 40,000 and has been relatively stable overall since the late 1990s (CDC release, 8/3). According to the Post, the estimate is based on data from a new advanced testing method, which enabled researchers to detect recent HIV infections (Washington Post, 8/3). The study did not calculate the total number of U.S. residents living with HIV/AIDS, although such estimates are expected soon. Earlier projections estimated that about 1.2 million people in the U.S. are HIV-positive, and CDC is updating that number, the Boston Globe reports (Smith, Boston Globe, 8/3).

Among sub-groups, the report found that:
Men who have sex with men accounted for 53% of all new infections;
Non-Hispanic blacks accounted for 45% of new infections (Sternberg, USA Today, 8/2);
People in their 30s had the highest number of new HIV infections, while people younger than age 30 accounted for 34% of all new infections;
73% of new infections were recorded among men (Washington Post, 8/3);
Injection drug users accounted for 12% of infections; and
Heterosexuals made up 31% of new infections.

Although the report indicates general stability in new infections nationally, as well as reductions in new infections among both IDUs and heterosexuals over time, it also shows increases among MSM (CDC release, 8/3).

HIV incidence in 2006 among blacks was 83.7 infections per 100,000 people, seven times as high as the rate of 11.5 per 100,000 among whites and three times as high as the 29.3 infections per 100,000 people among Hispanics (Altman, New York Times, 8/3). According to the data, although new infections among blacks are higher than among any other racial or ethnic group, the number has been relatively stable since the early 1990s (CDC release, 8/3).

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
According to the analysis, new HIV infections peaked at about 130,000 annually in the mid-1980s and decreased to a low of about 50,000 annually in the early 1990s. The number of new infections increased in the late 1990s and has been relatively stable since then, with estimates of between 55,000 and 58,500 new infections annually in the three most recent time periods that were analyzed, according to the study (New York Times, 8/3).

PREVENTION FUNDING
According to the Post, CDC spends about $750 million each year on prevention efforts. About half of CDC's HIV prevention budget targets blacks, Kevin Fenton -- director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention -- said. However, he added that the increasing incidence in MSM -- particularly in young black MSM -- is evidence that prevention campaigns have "not reached all those who need it" (Washington Post, 8/3).

According to Fenton, the recent relative stability in incidence is somewhat good news because the overall number of people living with HIV who could potentially pass the virus on to others is increasing as HIV-positive people are able to live longer due to antiretroviral drugs. That suggests those people are taking steps to prevent spreading the virus, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Stannard, San Francisco Chronicle, 8/3). "Over 95% of people living with HIV are not transmitting to someone else in a given year," David Holtgrave of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University said, adding, "What that says is the transmission rate has been kept very low by prevention efforts" (Washington Post, 8/3).

An analysis last year by Holtgrave and Jennifer Kates, a Kaiser Family Foundation vice president and director of HIV policy at the foundation, showed a correlation between the amount of funds spent on prevention and HIV incidence. "You get what you pay for," Holtgrave said, adding, "I think the new statistics are the most important AIDS story in the U.S. since the advent of the new treatments" (USA Today, 8/3).