HIV is so pervasive in the poorest urban

HIV is so pervasive in the poorest urban regions of America that infection rates match those of developing countries, where the condition is endemic among the general population.

That's the startling conclusion of a new report, commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and presented at this week's International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

The report is the first federal assessment of the powerful connection between poverty and HIV.

Researchers evaluated 9,000 Americans living in some of the country's poorest neighborhoods, spanning 23 cities.

Among those living below the poverty line, rates of infection were 2.4 percent. By comparison, the national average is 0.45 percent.

Because the study only looked at heterosexual adults, it's also a reminder that HIV in the U.S is by no means exclusive to gay men or intravenous drug users.

The report also raises the question of race. Blacks made up 77 percent of the sample population, though researchers found that Hispanics and whites in the targeted communities were just as likely to contract HIV.

Now, some experts are calling for an approach to HIV prevention that targets poverty -- which has obvious racial implications -- rather than the illness itself.