HIV/AIDS Today

As of December 2004, an estimated 415,193 people are reported to be living with AIDS.¹ In all, since the disease was first reported over 20 years ago, an estimated 944,306 people have developed AIDS in the United States.² Of those, 529,113 (56%) had died as of December 2004.³

Many of those who are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are unaware of their HIV status and may unknowingly transmit the virus to others. An estimated 55,000 - 58,500 new HIV infections occur in the United States each year.⁴ Of those, approximately 25% of HIV positive people are undiagnosed and unaware of their HIV infection.⁵ Between 54 percent and 70 percent of sexual transmissions of HIV are via people unaware of their HIV status. In America, 40 percent of HIV diagnoses are made late, when the patient's disease is already advanced.⁶

Who is infected? The changing face of HIV/AIDS
What is being done? Prevention works

Who is infected? The changing face of HIV/AIDS

In general, the number of new infections each year is stable. But the face of infections is not--some populations have always been at risk; in others, the risk is increasing.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) and injection drug users (IDUs) represent the largest population living with HIV (45%), followed by those infected through heterosexual contact (27%), individuals infected through injection drug use (IDU) (22%), and finally those who are both MSM and injection drug users (5%).⁷.

However, the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States is changing. Approximately 5 million Americans are considered to be at high risk for HIV infection.⁸ At increasing risk are women, young people, and people of color (see statistics on specific communities of color in the Communities at Risk section).

Women
In the 42 areas with confidential name-based HIV infection reporting, women (adults and adolescents) were 30% of new HIV infections in 2004. ⁹

In 1992, women accounted for 14% of people living with AIDS; in 2004, that percentage had increased to over 23%. Of the 123,405 women living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2004, 64% were African American, 19% were white, 15% were Hispanic, less than 1% were Asians and Pacific Islanders, and less than 1% were American Indians and Alaska Natives.¹⁰

Among female adults and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS (of 35 areas with confidential name-based reporting through 2004), sexual contact accounts for 71% of infections, and injection drug use for 27%.¹¹

In 2002, HIV infection was the leading cause of death for African American women aged 25–34 years.¹²

Heterosexual contact was the source of 78% of new infections among women in 2004.¹³

In a recent study of HIV-infected people, 34% of African American men who have sex with men (MSM), 26% of Hispanic MSM, and 13% of white MSM reported having had sex with women.¹⁴

Of females with male partners who engage in bisexual activity, only 14% of white women, 6% of African American women, and 6% of Hispanic women in a recent study acknowledged having a bisexual partner.¹⁵

A recent CDC survey showed that 65% of the men who had ever had sex with men also had sex with women.¹⁶

Learn more about women and HIV/AIDS

Young People
Half of all new HIV infections are believed to occur in people under the age of 25. ¹⁷

During 2001–2004, in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting, 62% of the 17,824 persons 13–24 years of age given a diagnoses of HIV/AIDS were males, and 38% were females.¹⁸

In 2004, African American youth were disproportionately affected by HIV infection, accounting for 55% of all HIV infections reported among persons aged 13–24.¹⁹

Young men who have sex with men (MSM), especially those of minority races or ethnicities, were at high risk for HIV infection. In the 7 cities that participated in CDC’s Young Men’s Survey during 1994–1998, 14% of African American MSM and 7% of Hispanic MSM aged 15–22 were infected with HIV.²⁰

Runaways and other homeless young people are at high risk for HIV infection if they are exchanging sex for drugs or money.²¹

In 2004, an estimated 4,883 young people aged 13-24 in the 33 states reporting to CDC were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, representing about 13% of the persons diagnosed that year.²²

Learn more about young people and HIV/AIDS

People of Color
In 2004, the rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American adults and adolescents was 10 times the rate for whites. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American women was 23 times the rate for white women. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American men was 8 times the rate for white men.²³

Even though African Americans make up only approximately 13% of the US population, one half of the estimated new numbers of HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the United States in 2004 were for African Americans.²⁴

Latinos comprise only 14% of the nation’s population (including Puerto Rico) but 19% of all AIDS cases through 2004.²⁵

During 2004, an estimated 488 new AIDS cases were reported among Asian/Pacific Islanders, an increase of 2.1 percent over 2003 and of 39.4 percent over 2000.²⁶

Among American Indians/Alaska Natives, there were an estimated 148 new AIDS diagnoses in 2004. A total of 1,506 AI/ANs were estimated to be living with AIDS at the end of 2004.²⁷

Learn more about people of color and HIV/AIDS:

For more information on at-risk populations, visit the Communities at Risk section of this Website.

What Is Being Done?

Effective new drug therapies are keeping HIV-infected persons healthy longer and are dramatically reducing the death rate. However, prevention—both biomedical and behavioral—is the best hope for further reducing the spread of HIV.

As the lead agency for HIV prevention in the United States, CDC has established this HIV mission: to prevent HIV infection and reduce the incidence of HIV-related illness and death, in collaboration with community, state, national, and international partners. The Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention, part of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, coordinates CDC's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.