How many people in the U.S. has H.I.V.?

It is estimated that more than one million people are living with HIV in the USA and that more than half a million have died after developing AIDS.

HIV statistics reported in the USA are currently only available for 37 states and 5 U.S. dependent areas with confidential name-based HIV infection reporting. AIDS statistics include all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. dependent areas. For more explanation, see the 'Interpreting HIV and AIDS statistics for the USA' section towards the end of this page.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that at the end of 2007, there were 599,819 people living with a diagnosis of HIV infection in the 37 states and five U.S. dependent areas. However, the total number of people living with an HIV infection in the U.S. is thought to be around 1.1 million.¹ The discrepancy between these figures is due to several factors, including:

• confidential name-based reporting of HIV diagnoses has not yet been implemented in all states;
• anonymous tests, including home tests, are excluded from case reports;
• and one in every five people living with HIV has not even had their infection diagnosed, let alone reported.²

During 2008, there were an estimated 42,439 new diagnoses of HIV infection in the 37 states and five dependent areas. Adult or adolescent males accounted for nearly three-quarters of new HIV diagnoses, more than two-thirds of whom were infected through male-to-male sexual contact. Heterosexual contact accounted for 15% of new infections among men and 84% among women. Injecting drug use was the transmission route in 9% of male and 15% of female diagnoses in 2008. In 2008 blacks/African Americans made up an estimated 50% of new diagnoses, whites 28%, and Hispanics/Latinos 19%. HIV was diagnosed in an estimated 182 children (<13 years at diagnosis) in 2008, all but 41 became infected through mother-to-child transmission.

AIDS diagnoses among children

An estimated 3,992 children (<13 years at diagnosis) were living with an AIDS diagnosis in 2007. The vast majority of these children acquired HIV through mother-to-child transmission. During 2008 there were an estimated 41 AIDS diagnoses among children, compared to 195 in 1999 and 896 in 1992. The decline in paediatric AIDS incidence is associated with a significant increase in HIV testing among pregnant women and the use of antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

Deaths among people diagnosed with AIDS

In 1981, the first cases of what is now known as AIDS were reported in the U.S. During the 1980s there was a rapid increase in the number of reported AIDS cases and AIDS deaths. Cases peaked with the 1993 expansion of the case definition,³ and then declined. The most dramatic drops in both cases and deaths began in 1996, with the widespread use of combination antiretroviral therapy.

People with AIDS are now surviving longer and are contributing to a steady increase in the overall number of people living with AIDS. This trend will continue as long as the number of new diagnoses exceeds the number of people dying each year.

The number of deaths of persons with an AIDS diagnosis has stabilised in recent years at around 17,000-18,000 per year. (Deaths of persons with an AIDS diagnosis may be due to any cause).

Since the beginning of the epidemic, an estimated 597,499 people with AIDS have died in the U.S.