HIV/AIDS: an overview of national demographics.
Cumulatively, 441,528 persons have already been identified with full-blown symptoms of AIDS in the United States as of December 1994 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 1994a). Incidences of AIDS have increased steadily since the virus was identified over a decade ago. In recent years, the disease has shown signs of leveling off. Since 1981, AIDS cases have been predominantly found among adult men who have sex with men (MSM) closely followed by injecting drug users (IDUs). African-Americans and Hispanics have been the most adversely affected by AIDS. The regional distribution of AIDS cases shows that in all regions AIDS cases predominate in the age groups between 20-49 years of age. Whites account for the majority of AIDS cases in all regions except in the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic, where African-American AIDS cases account for larger percentage of AIDS cases. Hispanic cases account for over one-fifth of the cases in the Northeast and the South. AIDS cases attributed to MSM exposure are concentrated in all regions, except in the Northeast where IDUs account for the largest percentage of AIDS cases. Heterosexuals are concentrated in the non-metropolitan and smaller metropolitan statistical areas which have a population of less than one million. From the analysis of the national trends it is clear that AIDS has been spreading from larger metropolitan regions to smaller metropolitan regions of the nation. In conclusion, prevention is the only solution to this pandemic. Reduction in the growth of AIDS cases among communities of educated gay men receiving prevention messages has fostered much hope for health policy makers and planners. Public health workers are confident that they will be able to achieve the same success in other communities of the nation.
Mukhopadhyay
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology