WASHINGTON--The number of new AIDS cases diagnosed in the United States last year totaled 62,600, according to the first estimate of the 1995 AIDS incidence released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The incidence rose from 61,500 in 1994.
This was the fourth year that new AIDS cases increased by less than 5%, a number well below the rate of increase in the epidemic's first decade. As recently as 1991, the annual rate of increase was 15%.
The CDC has received reports of 548,102 cases of AIDS since scientists first recognized the disease. Of these, 343,000 have died. This cumulative number of AIDS cases includes 462,152 male and 78,654 female adults and adolescents, and 7,296 children under the age of 13 years. The number of new AIDS cases diagnosed among children appears to be decreasing, the federal agency said.
The AIDS trends noted by CDC from 1992 to 1995 include:
- The AIDS incidence stabilized in the West, but continued to increase in other regions of the world.
- While the AIDS incidence stabilized among US whites, it continued to increase among blacks and Hispanics.
- Among women, the incidence of AIDS continued to increase, reflecting a rising number of women who became infected through sexual contact, mostly as the partners of IV drug users.
- Among men, the incidence stabilized, largely due to a stabilization in the number of new cases among white men who have sex with men.
