 |
 |
Home | Contact Us
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Home | Contact Us |
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
PRESS CONTACT: |
CDC researchers examine major trends in the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic over the last 25 years.
CDC researchers examine three important features of the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic: decreases in AIDS diagnoses, increases in survival, and the disproportionate impact of HIV on racial and ethnic minorities. The annual number of AIDS cases increased rapidly through the 1980s (peaking at 77,916 in 1992) but dropped significantly thereafter (to about 40,000 annually since 1998), due to behavioral risk-reduction and HIV testing programs, screening of the blood supply, and introduction of highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in 1996. HAART also led to significantly increased survival: from 1996 to 2003, more than 85 percent of people with AIDS were alive two years after diagnosis - approximately twice the level of 1981-1992. Despite progress, racial disparities remain a major challenge. During the period 2001-2004, rates of HIV diagnoses were 8.5 times higher among blacks, and 3.3 times higher among Hispanics, than among whites. The authors note that a new, nationwide system to estimate HIV incidence will soon enable better targeting of HIV prevention programs for minorities and others at risk for HIV.
PRESS CONTACT: |
Researchers examine success of U.S. efforts to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission and identify challenges to eliminating new infections in newborns.
An additional review examines the reduction in mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in the U.S. since the early 1990s - one of the most striking success stories in the nation's HIV prevention efforts. The estimated number of U.S. infants born with HIV declined from a peak of approximately 1,650 in 1991 to fewer than 240 in 2002. Researchers attribute this success to routine, "opt-out" HIV screening for pregnant women; antiretroviral therapies to prevent transmission from mothers to infants; avoidance of breastfeeding by mothers with HIV; and use of cesarean delivery, when appropriate.
However, significant challenges remain to eliminating MTCT in the U.S., including lack of access to prenatal care and HIV infections which are diagnosed late in pregnancy, despite a negative test earlier in pregnancy. To address these challenges, the authors highlight the importance of early identification of pregnant women with HIV infection through universal, opt-out prenatal screening, with the additional safeguards of a second HIV test during the third trimester of pregnancy for pregnant women at high risk for HIV infection, and the use of rapid HIV testing during labor for women whose HIV status is unknown.
PRESS CONTACT: |
CDC researchers examine successes in the nation's HIV prevention efforts and outline strategies to further reduce the burden of the disease.
In another
new article, CDC researchers discuss the evolution of domestic HIV prevention
efforts over the last 25 years and describe the combination of approaches
needed to reduce HIV incidence in the future.
Key successes of HIV prevention efforts to date include substantial decreases
in overall HIV incidence since the late 1980s, reduced HIV transmission
due to injection drug use, and the near-elimination of
mother-to-child HIV transmission. To build on these success, the
authors call for several key strategies. First, HIV testing and counseling
must remain cornerstones of HIV prevention. Making testing a routine part
of medical care and ensuring access to rapid HIV tests are essential to
further reduce new infections. Second, targeted prevention programs for
MSM, African Americans, women, and others at risk for infection are effective
and must continue to be expanded. And third, prevention interventions for
the estimated one million HIV-positive Americans are critical. A number
of these interventions have been proven effective and are being implemented
nationwide with CDC support.
|
|
|
Media Home |
Contact Us This page last reviewed
June 1, 2006
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention |
