The new federal estimate also adds that the population living with HIV is growing as people become newly infected and as more patients survive thanks to new anti-retroviral treatment. HIV prevalence has increased by 11 percent, or 112,000 people, since 2003, the study adds.
Increased diagnoses and a decline in deaths among persons living with HIV has led to a decrease in the percentage of people unaware of their infections from 25 percent in 2003 to 21 percent in 2006.
Blacks were the hardest hit racial group, accounting for about 46 percent of cases in 2006. About 1.7 percent of U.S. blacks are infected, compared with 0.6 percent of Hispanics and 0.2 percent of whites, the Atlanta-based study found.
The most severe impact was also felt among gay men who represented 48 percent of those living with HIV. About 18 percent of people contracted the virus by injecting drugs with contaminated needles, CDC said.
New infection rates have been stable at about 56,000 new infections a year and the study suggest that expanded HIV testing and prevention efforts are having an effect. The report also highlights the need to reach infected individuals with testing, treatment, and prevention services to reduce the impact of the disease.
