Clinical Overview of HIV Disease
Section 3: Epidemiology
There are currently approximately 900,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS in the
United States, 180,000 (20%) of whom are women and 10,000 (1.1%) of whom are
children.( 70 ) Young men who have sex with men (MSM) remain heavily affected.
In a sample of 15- to 22-year-old MSM in 7 urban areas, 7% were already infected
with HIV. Within this group, there were higher percentages of HIV infection
among African Americans (14%) and Hispanics (7%) than whites (3%). In 2000 in
the United States, over half of reported HIV infections among males aged 13-24
years were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact. Ethnic and racial
minorities make up a disproportionate number of new AIDS cases in the United
States. In 2000, the incidence rate among African Americans was 58.1 per 100,000
population, among Hispanics, 22.5, and among whites, 6.6.( 71 )
Worldwide, UNAIDS estimates that 40,000,000 persons are living with HIV/AIDS,
18,500,000 (44%) of whom are women, and 3,000,000 (7.1%) of whom are children (
70,309 ). The most heavily affected area of the world is sub-Saharan Africa,
with almost 30,000,000 people infected with HIV.( 72 ) In countries with the
highest prevalence such as Botswana and Zimbabwe, rates of HIV infection may
exceed 30% in the general population and may be >50% among selected groups,
including pregnant women, male patients at sexually transmitted infection
clinics, and female sex workers.( 72 ) Southeast Asia is estimated to have
6,000,000 infections, and China and the former Soviet Union are estimated to
have more than 1,000,000 infections each. Infection rates are increasing in
China, India, and Eastern Europe, fueled by high rates of intravenous drug use,
increasing prevalence of other sexually transmitted diseases, and public health
systems that are poorly prepared to prevent the spread of HIV.( 73,74 )
There were 2,400,000 deaths from AIDS in 2001, and some 14,000,000 children
orphaned by the disease are living in the world.( 75 )
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