HIV among Haitian-born persons in the United States, 1985-2007.
OBJECTIVE
Haitian-born persons have been historically stigmatized for introducing HIV to North America; however, no previous study has reported on the national HIV surveillance trends among this foreign-born group.


METHODS
Annual AIDS cases were estimated for adults and adolescents (aged >12 years) from all 50 US states and the District of Columbia who were diagnosed between 1985 and 2007, and who reported 'Haiti' as country of birth to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV data (with or without AIDS) for Haitian-born adults and adolescents diagnosed between 2004 and 2007 were obtained from 34 US states. Denominators for AIDS rates by race/ethnicity are from postcensal estimates, the American Community Survey of the US Census Bureau and the Haitian Consulates.


RESULTS
In 2007, Haitian-born persons constituted 1.2% of US AIDS cases, yet accounted for 0.18% of the total US population based on the American Community Survey estimates, which suggests a seven-fold overrepresentation in the CDC AIDS surveillance data. However, when using population estimates from the Haitian Consulate, the overrepresentation ranges from three-to-four-fold, which is similar to the AIDS rate for blacks/African-Americans.


CONCLUSIONS
The importance of having accurate denominators to estimate the AIDS rate for the Haitian population is paramount.
Marc
Linda G
LG
Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research, Cambridge Health Alliance & Harvard Medical School, Somerville, Massachusetts 02143, USA. linda.marc@post.harvard.edu
Patel-Larson
Alpa
A
Hall
H Irene
HI
Hughes
Denise
D
Alegría
Margarita
M
Jeanty
Georgette
G
Eveillard
Yanick Sanon
YS
Jean-Louis
Eustache
E
D000328:Adult; D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000635:transmission; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006205:Haiti / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D057545:Social Stigma; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology