How Common Is HIV Infection?

How Common Is HIV Infection?

In some areas of the world, such as in sub-Saharan Africa, rates of HIV infection are extremely high and continue to rise rapidly. Worldwide, it is estimated that 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In 2002 alone, 5 million people became infected with HIV, and more than 3 million died from AIDS. Many infected people live in impoverished areas where medicines and other treatments are not available or affordable.

In the United States, HIV infection is less common. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), by the end of 2001 a total of about 816,000 cases of AIDS had been reported and about 468,000 deaths had been attributed to AIDS since the disease was

Since 1987 the AIDS Memorial Quilt (shown here on display in Washington, D.C.) has underscored the devastating impact of the disease. Each of the more than 44,000 panels memorializes the life of someone who has died of AIDS.

Paul Margolies

first recognized. More than 9,000 children in the United States under the age of 13 are living with AIDS. The infection is spreading most rapidly among people of African ancestry and people of Latino ancestry, especially among young men. As with other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), teens and young adults are at higher risk for contracting HIV infection because they are more likely to have unprotected sex. Approximately one-third of people worldwide with HIV or AIDS are 15 to 24 years old.