HIV diagnoses down in African-Americans

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Health officials said Thursday HIV diagnoses in African-Americans dropped by about 5 percent a year in the past four years.

Despite that statistic, this population still had a diagnosis rate in 2004 that was more than eight times higher than that of whites, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in releasing data on HIV diagnoses from 33 states between 2001 and 2004.

The overall rate of HIV diagnoses remained relatively stable in the 33 states, with a total of 157,252 people diagnosed with the infection during the four-year period. The data reflects both those newly infected and those who may have been infected long ago but only recently got tested.

Men who have sex with men continue to account for the most HIV cases. This group showed an 8-percent increase from 2003 to 2004. CDC officials said they do not know why this spike occurred.

This is the first year the national data has included statistics from New York state, which accounted for more than 20 percent of all new HIV diagnoses during the period. Officials said the inclusion of New York data gives them a better picture of national trends of HIV diagnoses.