11 Facts About HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
- The first case of what would later become known as AIDS was reported in the U.S. in June of 1981.
- Since that time, approximately 1.7 million people in the U.S. are estimated to have been infected with HIV.
- Almost 566,000 have died of AIDS related causes in the U.S. since the beginning of the epidemic.
- More than 18,000 people with AIDS still die each year in the US.
- More than 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV/AIDS today, with an estimated 440,000 Americans living with full-blown AIDS.
- At its peak in the 1980s, 130,000 people were infected with HIV every year.
- Approximately 21% of those infected with HIV do not know it and many are diagnosed late in the later stages of the disease.
- Most new HIV infections are attributable to sex between men (53% of all cases).
- Heterosexual transmission has accounted for a growing share of new HIV infections over time, representing 31% of new infections.
- There are more than 500,000 Blacks living with HIV and AIDS in the U.S, more than any other group. Blacks also have the highest AIDS case rates of any racial/ethnic group.
- Women of color are particularly affected; in 2006, black women accounted for the largest share of new HIV infections (61%) and two-thirds (66%) of new AIDS cases among women.
Sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Henry Kaiser Family Foundation
National Center for Health Statistics
Averting HIV & AIDS


