U.S. HIV Infection Rate 25% Higher Than Thought

More accurate counting methods have resulted in a revision to the estimated HIV infection rate in the United States. In the past, large segments of society were undercounted causing the number of infections to be undercounted as well, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“The number went up to about 50,000. That doesn’t mean that the actual rate of new infections increased. It means that we are now no longer missing counting the ones that we missed early,” Fauci said. “It was always 50,000 a year.”

In the United States, with a population of about 300 million, some 1.1 million people are infected with HIV, of which 25 percent do not know it. That leaves 770,000 documented cases.

“I have seen some of the data and it is clear. The confusion is that it was increasing when in fact it is better accounting,” Fauci said. “They are counting more accurately.”

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