Date: Wed, 29 Mar 1995 09:19:40 +0500
From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com
Subject: CDC Facts About Trends 03/29/95


CDC Facts About .....


               Recent Trends in Reported U.S. AIDS Cases

On January 1, 1993, the AIDS surveillance case definition for adolescents and
adults was expanded to include three additional clinical conditions (pulmonary
tuberculosis, recurrent pneumonia, and invasive cervical cancer) as well as a
laboratory marker of severe immunosuppression (CD4+ T-lymphocyte count <200
fL) in HIV-infected persons.  This expansion resulted in a large transient
increase in AIDS case reporting.

In 1993, 105,990 adolescents and adults were reported with AIDS, representing
a 127% increase over the 46,791 cases reported in 1992.  Adolescents, women,
racial/ethnic minorities, and persons infected through injecting drug use or
heterosexual contact had the largest increase in case reporting.

Through June 1994, CDC had received reports of 401,749 cases of AIDS.  These
included:

  *   347,767 cases in males and 53,978 cases in females (4 cases were
reported with sex not specified)

  *   396,015 cases in adults and adolescents and 5,734 cases among children
less than 13 years of age

Also through June 1994, 243,423 deaths had been reported among persons with
AIDS, representing 61% of reported cases.  In 1992, HIV infection/AIDS was the
leading cause of death among U.S. men ages 25-44 years, surpassing
unintentional injuries, heart disease, cancer, suicide, and homicide.  For
women in this age group, HIV infection/AIDS was the fourth leading cause of
death in 1992.  Among persons of all ages in the United States, HIV
infection/AIDS was the eighth leading cause of death in 1992.

In the first 6 months of 1994, 40,388 cases of AIDS were reported, compared
with 61,877 cases reported in the first 6 months of 1993.  During the 18-month
period (January 1993-June 1994) following the expansion of the AIDS
surveillance case definition, 146,145 AIDS cases were reported among
adolescents and adults in the United States.  The following trends were
observed:

  *   By exposure category, 47% were reported among men who have sex with men;
28% were attributed to injecting drug use; 9% were attributed to heterosexual
contact; 5% were reported among men who have sex with men and inject drugs; 1%
were attributed to receipt of blood transfusion, blood components, or tissue;
1% occurred in persons with hemophilia or other coagulation disorder; and 9%
occurred among persons whose risk has not been identified.

  *   During this same 18-month period, the proportion of cases among men
decreased from 85% to 83% and the proportion of cases reported among whites
decreased from 47% to 43%, while the proportion of cases among blacks
increased from 35% to 38% and the proportion of cases among Hispanics
increased from 15% to 18%.

If the level of case reporting observed during the first 6 months of 1994
continues throughout the year, approximately 70,000 to 80,000 AIDS cases will
be reported in 1994; while less than the number of reported AIDS cases in 1993
following the initial impact of the expanded surveillance definition, the
number of reported AIDS cases expected for 1994 will be greater than the
number of cases reported in 1992, reflecting both the expanded AIDS
surveillance definition as well as current trends in the epidemic.

In 1992, before the expansion of the surveillance definition, AIDS cases were
increasing at a rate of 5%-10% annually.  Estimates on the number of
HIV-infected persons diagnosed with an AIDS opportunistic illness indicate
that the number of such diagnoses increased approximately 3% from 1992 to
1993.  Thus, although the rate of increase is slowing, the number of persons
with severe AIDS-related illnesses continues to increase.

For more information:

      CDC National AIDS Hotline:      1-800-342-AIDS (2437)
           Spanish Access:            1-800-344-SIDA (7432)
           Deaf Access:               1-800-AIDS-TTY (243-7889)

      CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse
      Post Office Box 6003
      Rockville, Maryland 20849-6003