HIV Cases Increase Among Young Gay and Bisexual Black Men

Gay and bisexual men account for the majority of the new cases — nearly two-thirds in 2009. Heterosexuals accounted for 27 percent and injection drug users represented 9 percent of new infections.The only increase over the four years was in young gay and bisexual men, driven by a 48 percent increase among blacks ages 13 to 29. Dr. Kevin Fenton, the AIDS prevention chief for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said,"The reality is that we just cannot allow another generation of gay men to be lost to what is essentially a preventable disease." The latest CDC report used the new methods to look at trends over four years, and found that there were about 50,000 new infections each year from 2006-2009. The CDC report was published Wednesday in the journal PLoS One. The figures were calculated from data in 16 states and two cities. Estimating new infections is complicated; it can take many years for an infection to cause symptoms and illness. The new blood test can tell how recent an infection occurred.