CDC: Blacks, Hispanics, Gays Continue to be High Risk for HIV Infections

Young black gay men, black women and white gay men in their 30s and 40s are much more likely to be newly infected with HIV than other groups in the United States, according to a new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The analysis -- based on figures showing that the HIV infection rate for 2006 is much worse than previously thought -- looks at the number of new HIV infections and who gets them. The study appears in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

It shows 53 percent of the estimated 56,000 cases of new HIV infection in 2006 were among gay and bisexual men, and 46 percent of the infections occurred among blacks. Within the gay and bisexual group, young black men (13 to 29 years old ) were roughly twice as likely to get infected as young white and young Hispanic men. And among women, black women were almost 15 times more likely to get HIV than white women and almost four times more likely than Hispanic women.

These new figures -- highlighting which age, gender and racial groups are at higher risk -- are based on data released by the CDC in August. Those numbers showed that new HIV infections for 2006 were 40 percent higher than the CDC had previously estimated.

White gay and bisexual men account for close to half, or 46 percent, of HIV incidence among gay and bisexual men, but the majority of new infections occurred in men in their 30s, followed by men in the 40s, the CDC found.

Among Hispanic gay and bisexual men, most new infections occurred in the young age group, like blacks, but at much lower rates.

(Via CNN)