New U.S. HIV infections at 47,500 in 2010

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ATLANTA, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- An estimated 47,500 people in the United States became newly infected with human immunodeficiency virus in 2010, U.S. health officials said.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said there were 53,200 diagnosed of the virus that causes AIDS in 2007; 47,500 in 2008; and 45,000 in 2009. African-Americans, Latinos, and gay and bisexual men of all races/ethnicities, continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV.

Men who have sex with men remain the group most heavily affected by HIV in the United States. The CDC estimated men having sex with men represented about 4 percent of the U.S. male population, the report said.

The analysis also found two noteworthy trends among heavily affected populations: early signs of a decrease in new HIV infections among black women -- a 21 percent decrease between 2008 and 2010 -- but a troubling 22 percent increase in new infections among young gay and bisexual men during the same time period.

The number of new HIV infections among the youngest men having sex with men ages 13-24 increased 22 percent, from 7,200 infections in 2008 to 8,800 in 2010.

Young black men having sex with men continued to bear the heaviest HIV burden, accounting for 55 percent of new infections among young men having sex with men at 4,800. There was a 12 percent increase in HIV incidence among men having sex with men overall, from 26,700 in 2008 to 29,800 in 2010.

Heterosexuals accounted for 25 percent of estimated new HIV infections in 2010 at 12,100 and about 66 percent of those infected through heterosexual sex were women, the report said.