The incidence of new HIV infections in New York City is three times the national rate, according to a study recently released by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The city's prevalence rate is 72 new infections per 100,000 people, compared to 23 per 100,000 nationally.
The study estimated that 4,762 New Yorkers contracted HIV in 2006. The findings are based on a new CDC formula, making it difficult to draw comparisons to previous years.
Among the study's highlights:
*Men accounted for 75.4 percent of cases, and women for 24.6 percent.
*Blacks made up 46 percent of new cases; Hispanics, 32 percent, whites 21 percent.
*Those under age 20 made up 4 percent of new infections; ages 20 to 29, 24 percent; ages 30 to 39, 29 percent; ages 40 to 49, 29 percent; and those 50 and older, 15 percent.
*Sex between men was the chief transmission route in 50 percent of the cases; high-risk heterosexual sex in 22 percent; intravenous drug use in 8 percent; and unknown or uncertain causes in 18 percent.
*Geographically, Manhattan accounted for 35 percent of new cases; Brooklyn, 26 percent; the Bronx, 19 percent; and Queens, 17 percent.
*Minority men who have sex with men were especially at risk. Of newly infected MSM under age 30, 77 percent were black or Hispanic, as were 59 percent of those ages 30 to 50.
*Nationally, people under the age of 30 accounted for 41 percent of new infections, compared with 28 percent in New York City. Also, within New York City, whites were infected at four times the national rate, Hispanics at three times the rate, and blacks at almost double that rate.
For more information, visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2008/pr057-08.shtml.
08/28/08
HIV Is Spreading in New York City at Three Times the National Rate, a Study Finds
Source: New York Times:: Sewell Chan; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention