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Little-Acorn
01-30-2008, 11:45 AM
Conspicuous by its absence are two highly relevant statistics:

1.) What percentage of the gay population is infected, vs. what percentage of the total population?

2.) What percentage of the illegal-intravenuous-injecting-drug population is infected, vs. what percentage of the total population.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2962453620080129?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Under 1 percent of U.S. adults have HIV: report

Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:45pm EST
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About one-half of one percent of young adults living in homes in the United States are infected with the AIDS virus, around 600,000 people, the National Center for Health Statistics reported on Tuesday.

The agency's snapshot of HIV infection in the United States shows the rate continues to be stable and confirms other surveys that show black men are far more likely than other Americans to be infected.

The report covers adults aged 18 to 49 and only people living in households -- not prisoners, the homeless or patients in institutions, said Gerry McQuillan, who led the study.

The data comes from people taking part in the federal government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, who volunteer to have their blood tested for everything from cholesterol to AIDS and herpes, as well as undergo full physical exams.

"What we have done is taken data from our surveys in 1999 to 2006 because HIV has a very low prevalence. You have to combine all the years," Gerry McQuillan, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

"In 1999 to 2006, the prevalence of HIV infection among adults aged 18-49 years in the civilian noninstitutionalized household population of the United States was 0.47 percent," the report reads.

That works out to anywhere between 447,000 people and 841,000 people, with 618,000 the middle number, McQuillan said.

Men were more likely to be infected (0.7 percent) than women (0.2 percent). People infected with the herpes simplex type 2 virus, known as genital herpes, were 15 times more likely to also be infected with HIV, according to the report, available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db04.pdf.

Black men aged 40 to 49 had the highest rate of infection, at close to 4 percent, the survey found.

The National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, included 11,928 adults in the survey. These numbers can be extrapolated to the full population.

"We do see the disparities by race/ethnicity," McQuillan said. "We can say the prevalence is basically stable in this U.S., household-based population."

The report does not include data on how many people are newly infected with HIV.

These numbers have not been released but AIDS advocacy groups say the new figures will put the number of Americans infected with the AIDS virus each year close to 50 percent higher than previous estimates, at 55,000 instead of 40,000.

The CDC has estimated in the past that more than 1 million Americans in total are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

Globally, 33 million people are infected and 25 million have died from the fatal and incurable virus.

JimmyAteWorld
01-30-2008, 01:12 PM
Not that this has anything to do with anything, but this reminded me of something.

Back in the 80s when AIDS was first becoming part of our vocabulary and we still didn't know that much about it, the activists pushing for funding took their first steps toward scaring the crap out of everyone to get their way. I can remember Oprah Winfrey opening her show talking about it one day around '86 or '87. I don't remember why I was watching Oprah, so don't ask.

She said that everyone was running scared from AIDS and that research showed that 1 in 5 heterosexuals could be dead from AIDS by 1990. I can specifically remember her peering into the camara saying "Listen to me. It's hard to believe."

Keep in mind that while Oprah is still popular and influentual today, the Oprah machine was at full steam by the mid and late 80s. She had pretty much replaced network news anchors as the trusted voice on television. So, everyone followed with the "Nobody is safe" message and scaring people into thinking that 20% of Americans were going to get AIDS and die.

Fact is by 1989 heterosexual AIDS cases made up about half of one percent, and thats including drug users. Even in New York City, which has been dubbed the "AIDS Capitol of the U.S.", a miniscule amount of cases had contacted AIDS through heterosexual intercourse.

theHawk
01-30-2008, 01:23 PM
Why don't they say what percentage of homosexuals have the disease?

Pale Rider
01-30-2008, 01:39 PM
Why don't they say what percentage of homosexuals have the disease?

Because that would make you a bigot and a homophobe.

5stringJeff
01-30-2008, 08:26 PM
IIRC, homosexuals make up 80-90% of AIDS cases.