• Font Size    

Featured Slideshows

Celebrities Separated At Birth?
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

In NYC, New HIV Infections 3 Times National Rate

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Aug 27, 2008 3:28 pm US/Eastern

In NYC, New HIV Infections 3 Times National Rate

NEW YORK (AP) ― New data indicate New York City residents are contracting the virus that causes AIDS at three times the national rate.

The city health department said Wednesday that almost 4,800 New Yorkers were infected with HIV in 2006. The number represents 72 in every 100,000 residents, compared to a national rate of 23 per 100,000.

The figures are the first to pinpoint when people became infected, not just when they were diagnosed. Better blood tests have helped make that possible.

Health officials attribute the city's relatively high rate of new infections to its large populations of gay men, blacks and other groups on whom HIV has traditionally taken a heavy toll.

Assistant health commissioner Dr. Monica Sweeney says the figures underscore the continued need to promote HIV testing and prevention.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

WCBSTV.com's Most Popular Pages

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.