AIDS Cases by Age AIDS Cases by Race/Ethnicity AIDS Cases by State AIDS Cases by Exposure Category Individual and Societal Factors in the Rise of HIV HIV in the Elderly Socioeconomic Effects on People with HIV References AIDS by Age In 2003, there were an estimated 43,172 new AIDS cases in the U.S.(10) The 35 to 44 age group had the largest number of new cases with 17,633 new cases, f ollowed by the 45 to 54 age group and the 25 to 34 age group, with 10,051 and 9,605 new cases respectively.(1) Cumulatively, there were an estimated 1,039,987 AIDS cases in the U.S. in 2003.(1) The top three age groups with AIDS are the 35 to 44 age group, 25 to 34 age group, and the 45 to 54 age group, in that order.(1) AIDS by Race/Ethnicity In 2003, approximately 51% of the new AIDS cases in the U.S. were African Americans, followed by 28% non-Hispanic white, 20% Hispanic, 1% Asian, and less than 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native.(1) Cumulatively, the percentage of non-Hispanic whites and African Americans with AIDS are nearly equal. In 2003, of the total cumulative AIDS cases in the U.S., 40.6% were non-Hispanic white, 39.7% were African American, and 18.6% were Hispanic.(1) Asians and American Indian/Alaskan Native have the lowest percentages, 0.8% and 0.3% respectively.(1) AIDS by States The top 5 states with new AIDS cases in 2003 were: New York (6,684), California (5,903), Florida (4,666), Texas (3,379), and Georgia (1,907).(1) The top 5 states with the largest cumulative number of AIDS cases through 2003 were: New York (162,446), California (133,292), Florida (94,725), Texas (62,983), and New Jersey (46,703).(1) AIDS by Exposure Category The majority of AIDS exposure in 2003 was from male to male sexual contact, resulting in 17,969 new AIDS cases.(10) The second largest exposure category for 2003 was heterosexual contact, resulting in 13,260 new AIDS cases.(10) Injection drug use was the third largest exposure category for new AIDS cases, resulting in 9,449 new cases.(1) HIV Rising Among Women of Color: Individual vs. Societal Factors Among women of color in the U.S., infection with the HIV virus is rapidly rising. While individual-level behaviors, such as practicing safe sex, are key to preventing the spread of HIV in any population, some scholars believe that other forces also bear on the spread of HIV among women of color. Lane and colleagues argue in a 2004 paper that society-wide forces contribute powerfully to the problem. They discuss: the disproportionate incarceration of African American men, residential segregation, gang turf, limited access to STD services, and social norms stigmatizing homosexual conduct as just some of the social forces that contribute to the rise of HIV among women of color.(2) Older Adults with HIV: How Are They Doing Financially? Analyzing a national probability sample of adults with HIV/AIDS, Joyce and colleagues found that nearly 10% of the HIV-positive population is between the ages of 51 and 61 years; African Americans and Hispanics make up a disproportionately high percentage of the population with HIV: whereas African Americans make up less than 13% of the general U.S. population, they constitute nearly 40% of the older population with HIV; older adults with HIV have significantly fewer financial resources than older adults in the general population; older whites with HIV are mostly homosexual men who are relatively well-educated, more often privately insured and more financially stable than the HIV population as a whole; older minorities with HIV possess few economic resources, in comparison with the general population of older adults and in comparison with older whites with HIV.(3) Race, Socioeconomic Status and Dying with HIV/AIDS HIV-infected people with low socioeconomic status (SES) and people who are members of a racial or ethnic minority have been found to receive fewer services, including treatment with Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), than others. HIV-infected people with low SES also have worse survival chances than others: using a national probability sample, Cunningham and colleagues found that those with no accumulated financial assets had an 89% greater risk of death than those with such assets, and that those with less than a high school education had a 53% greater risk of death than those with a high school education or more.(4)   Back to Top References 1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report: HIV Infection and AIDS in the United States, 2003. CDC, 2003. 2. Lane SD, et al. Structural violence and racial disparity in HIV transmission. J Health Care Poor Underserved 2004;15(3):319-335. 3. Joyce GF, et al. A socioeconomic profile of older adults with HIV. J Health Poor Underserved 2005;16(1):19-28. 4. Cunningham WE, et al. The effect of socioeconomic status on the survival of persons receiving care for HIV infection in the United States. J Health Poor Underserved 2005;16(4). This research was supported by a National Library of Medicine (NLM) Publication Grant #5G08 LM07653-02 in support of the creation of a web site titled Factline: Tracking Health in Underserved Communities, www.factline.org. Saqi S. Maleque, MSPH, Researcher, Principal Investigator: Virginia Brennan, PhD.