Sunday Sep 14, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- An estimated 56,000 people in the United States get infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) each year and men who have sex with men (MSM) and Africa-American or black men and women are at high risk of contracting the virus, according to a CDC study published in the Aug 6 2008 issue of Journal of American Medical Association.

The study conducted by Hall HI from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues directly estimated based on assay results from 22 states that the incidence of HIV in the United States in 2006 was 22.8 per 100,000 population.

For the study, Hall et al. examined results from the testing of remnant diagnostic serum specimens from patients 13 years or older and newly diagnosed with HIV in 2006 in 22 states.   The test called the BED HIV-1 capture enzyme immunoassay was able to determine whether a HIV infection was new or old.

The assay results were sent to the CDC through June 2007 and the researchers used a statistic method to extrapolate the results from the individual states to the U.S.

The results were corroborated with HIV incidence for 1977 through 2006 calculated based on HIV diagnoses from 40 states and AIDS ( acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) incidence from 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The number of newly contracted HIV infections in the U.S. in 2006 extrapolated from the assay data from 22 states was similar to that resulting from the calculation based on diagnoses of HIV from 40 states and AIDS incidence from 50 states: 56,300 versus 55,400.

The researchers found 45 percent of HIV infections were found in Africa-American black men and women and 53 percent were among men who have sex with men (MSM).

On Sep 9, 2008, the CDC reported in its weekly publication MMWR the following cited in verbatim:

To provide additional subpopulation estimates by age group, race/ethnicity, and HIV transmission category, CDC conducted a more detailed analysis of data from the new surveillance system. The results indicated that, in 2006, of new HIV infections among males, 72% were in MSM. Among MSM with new infections, 46% were white, 35% were black, and 19% were Hispanic. Among MSM aged 13--29 years, the number of new HIV infections in blacks (5,220) was 1.6 times the number in whites (3,330) and 2.3 times the number in Hispanics (2,300). Among females, the predominant HIV transmission category was high-risk heterosexual contact, which accounted for 80% of new infections. The HIV incidence rate for black females was 14.7 times the rate for white females, and the rate for Hispanic females was 3.8 times the rate for white females. MSM (of all races), blacks, and Hispanics were represented disproportionately in 2006 among those with new HIV infections. The new incidence data will help guide local, state, and national intervention measures tailored to those populations at greatest risk for HIV infection.

For further information on HIV incidence, read A picture of Today's epidemic and Report on HIV incidence in the U.S.