New York Times
By Sewell Chan
Published: August 27, 2008
The virus that causes AIDS
is spreading in New York City at three times the national rate — an
incidence of 72 new infections for every 100,000 people, compared with
23 per 100,000 nationally — according to a study released on Wednesday
by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The findings, based on a new formula developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that 4,762 New Yorkers contracted H.I.V. in 2006, the most precise estimate the city had ever offered.
But the city stressed that because the method of estimating
infections was new, it could not be said definitively whether the
number of new infections in the city had increased or decreased from
previous years.
Blacks, and men who have sex with other men,
are the groups at greatest risk of contracting H.I.V., the study found.
A summary of the new data:
- Men accounted for 76 percent of new
H.I.V. infections and women for 25 percent. (The figures exceed 100
percent because of rounding.)
- Blacks made up 46 percent of the
newly infected; Hispanics, 32 percent; and whites, 21 percent. (Figures
for other racial or ethnic groups were not provided.)
- Those
under age 20 made up 4 percent of the newly infected; those 20 to 29
years old, 24 percent; those 30 to 39 years old, 29 percent; those 40
to 49 years old, 29 percent; and those 50 and older, 15 percent.
- Sex
between men was the main cause in 50 percent of new infections;
high-risk heterosexual sex in 22 percent; intravenous drug use in 8
percent; and unknown or uncertain causes in 18 percent.
Manhattan accounted for 35 percent of new infections; Brooklyn, 26 percent; the Bronx, 19 percent; and Queens, 17 percent.
Continue reading here.
New York Times
By Sewell Chan
Published: August 27, 2008
The findings, based on a new formula developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that 4,762 New Yorkers contracted H.I.V. in 2006, the most precise estimate the city had ever offered.
But the city stressed that because the method of estimating infections was new, it could not be said definitively whether the number of new infections in the city had increased or decreased from previous years.
Blacks, and men who have sex with other men, are the groups at greatest risk of contracting H.I.V., the study found. A summary of the new data:
- Men accounted for 76 percent of new H.I.V. infections and women for 25 percent. (The figures exceed 100 percent because of rounding.)
- Blacks made up 46 percent of the newly infected; Hispanics, 32 percent; and whites, 21 percent. (Figures for other racial or ethnic groups were not provided.)
- Those under age 20 made up 4 percent of the newly infected; those 20 to 29 years old, 24 percent; those 30 to 39 years old, 29 percent; those 40 to 49 years old, 29 percent; and those 50 and older, 15 percent.
- Sex between men was the main cause in 50 percent of new infections; high-risk heterosexual sex in 22 percent; intravenous drug use in 8 percent; and unknown or uncertain causes in 18 percent.
Manhattan accounted for 35 percent of new infections; Brooklyn, 26 percent; the Bronx, 19 percent; and Queens, 17 percent.
Continue reading here.