Posted on February 23, 2016

CDC: One in Two Gay Black Men in US Will Be Diagnosed with HIV

Mike Stobbe, Medical Xpress, February 23, 2016

About half of gay and bisexual black men will be diagnosed with the AIDS virus in their lifetime, according to new government estimates.

Overall, for the average American, the odds of an HIV infection is 1 in 99 and has been declining.

But the risk varies widely for different groups. For example, the projection is 1 in 2 for gay black men but fewer than 1 in 2,500 for heterosexual white men.

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The report provides an unusually vivid picture of what’s been happening with HIV infections. The estimates were calculated from HIV diagnosis and death figures from 2009 through 2013.

New HIV infections have been falling in the United States, to about 40,000 annually. A disproportionately large share–about 10,000 cases–has been in gay and bisexual black men. That number has been holding steady while infections in other groups have fallen.

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Findings include:

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— Gay and bisexual men have the highest risk, but there are racial differences within that group. For gay white men it’s about 1 in 11–a significantly smaller proportion than the estimate for blacks and Hispanics.

— Among heterosexuals, blacks are far more likely to be infected than other racial groups. For example, 1 in 49 black women compared to 1 in 1,083 white women.