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AIDS cases in the U.S. end downward trend
July 8, 2002 Posted: 11:55 AM EDT (1555 GMT)
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From Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN Medical Unit
BARCELONA, Spain (CNN) -- New cases of AIDS and HIV infection in the United States have remained roughly stable since 1998, halting what was an encouraging downward trend, researchers reported Sunday at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Following four years of steady declines, the stabilization at about 10,000 cases per quarter has stirred concern among public health officials.
The pre-1998 drop in new AIDS cases in the United States primarily was attributed to highly effective anti-retroviral treatments and strong prevention measures, said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Valdiserri blamed the lack of additional progress on apathy about AIDS and complacency with treatment options.
MORE STORIES
? Company offers AIDS vaccine hope
? AIDS cases in the U.S. end downward trend
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EXTRA INFORMATION
? Timeline: The AIDS epidemic
? Flash: How HIV infects cells
? Treatments and vaccines
? CNN Presents: The AIDS epidemic in Africa
? TIME.com: Map of AIDS in Africa
Of the estimated 1 million Americans with HIV/AIDS, about half are not receiving medical care, often because they don't know they're infected, Valdiserri said.
While men having sex with men continues to make up the largest group of HIV positive individuals (43 percent), more than a quarter (27 percent) of newly infected Americans contracted the virus from heterosexual sex, Valdiserri said.
Twenty-three percent of newly infected cases got the disease from intravenous drug use, according to the CDC.
Half of the newly infected infected heterosexual population are African-American women, and another 25 percent are African-American men, according to CDC figures.
Worldwide, AIDS has killed 20 million people, and another 40 million are infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
Seventy percent of newly infected cases (28 million people) live in Africa, where, in some areas such as Botswana, nearly half of adults are infected with HIV, said Dr. Peter Piot of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.
The epidemic is growing fastest in Russia, spread mainly by intravenous drug abuse, Piot said.
Despite the gloomy statistics, a comparison between the West and Africa makes it clear that access to treatment profoundly improves survival.
Last year, nearly 500,000 Westerners received HIV/AIDS treatment, and there were 25,000 deaths from the disease. But in Africa, 30,000 people have received treatment, and the disease has killed more than 2.2 million people.
UNAIDS researchers predicted AIDS will kill 70 million more people over the next 20 years unless a dramatic treatment advance occurs.
But participants in the conference, which opened Sunday, are not expected to report major advances in treatment or prevention.
Public health officials have pinned their hopes for making major inroads into the epidemic on the development of an effective, cheap vaccine, but they said no such advance is on the horizon.
UNAIDS officials have called on industrialized nations to fulfill their promises to help poor countries expand their prevention and treatment strategies.
One researcher said poor nations would need $10 billion this year to treat HIV infection but have been able to allocate just $3 billion to the effort.
July 8, 2002 Posted: 11:55 AM EDT (1555 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN Medical Unit
BARCELONA, Spain (CNN) -- New cases of AIDS and HIV infection in the United States have remained roughly stable since 1998, halting what was an encouraging downward trend, researchers reported Sunday at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Following four years of steady declines, the stabilization at about 10,000 cases per quarter has stirred concern among public health officials.
The pre-1998 drop in new AIDS cases in the United States primarily was attributed to highly effective anti-retroviral treatments and strong prevention measures, said Dr. Ronald Valdiserri of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Valdiserri blamed the lack of additional progress on apathy about AIDS and complacency with treatment options.
MORE STORIES
? Company offers AIDS vaccine hope
? AIDS cases in the U.S. end downward trend
? Researchers call for new AIDS strategies
? Court orders end to HIV drug block
EXTRA INFORMATION
? Timeline: The AIDS epidemic
? Flash: How HIV infects cells
? Treatments and vaccines
? CNN Presents: The AIDS epidemic in Africa
? TIME.com: Map of AIDS in Africa
Of the estimated 1 million Americans with HIV/AIDS, about half are not receiving medical care, often because they don't know they're infected, Valdiserri said.
While men having sex with men continues to make up the largest group of HIV positive individuals (43 percent), more than a quarter (27 percent) of newly infected Americans contracted the virus from heterosexual sex, Valdiserri said.
Twenty-three percent of newly infected cases got the disease from intravenous drug use, according to the CDC.
Half of the newly infected infected heterosexual population are African-American women, and another 25 percent are African-American men, according to CDC figures.
Worldwide, AIDS has killed 20 million people, and another 40 million are infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
Seventy percent of newly infected cases (28 million people) live in Africa, where, in some areas such as Botswana, nearly half of adults are infected with HIV, said Dr. Peter Piot of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.
The epidemic is growing fastest in Russia, spread mainly by intravenous drug abuse, Piot said.
Despite the gloomy statistics, a comparison between the West and Africa makes it clear that access to treatment profoundly improves survival.
Last year, nearly 500,000 Westerners received HIV/AIDS treatment, and there were 25,000 deaths from the disease. But in Africa, 30,000 people have received treatment, and the disease has killed more than 2.2 million people.
UNAIDS researchers predicted AIDS will kill 70 million more people over the next 20 years unless a dramatic treatment advance occurs.
But participants in the conference, which opened Sunday, are not expected to report major advances in treatment or prevention.
Public health officials have pinned their hopes for making major inroads into the epidemic on the development of an effective, cheap vaccine, but they said no such advance is on the horizon.
UNAIDS officials have called on industrialized nations to fulfill their promises to help poor countries expand their prevention and treatment strategies.
One researcher said poor nations would need $10 billion this year to treat HIV infection but have been able to allocate just $3 billion to the effort.
