Between 1999 and 2004, the rates of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses declined among blacks living in Florida, according to a report by investigators at the Florida Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The annual rate of decline was significantly greater than for other racial/ethnic groups.
The simultaneous decline in rates of gonorrhea and upswing in HIV testing suggest that the decline in HIV incidence is a result of decreased high-risk sexual behavior, and is not just attributable to reduced testing rates, Dr. Spencer Lieb and his associates write in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report for February 2.
Annual rates in HIV diagnoses among blacks in Florida declined from 224.4 cases per 100,000 population in 1999 to 134.0 per 100,000 in 2004. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was -9.1 for all blacks; for black women and black men, respectively, the EAPC was -10.2 and -8.2.
Hispanic and white women also sustained significantly reduced rates of diagnosis during the same period (EAPC = -2.9 and -3.3, respectively), but to a much smaller degree than among blacks. Rates did not change significantly for Hispanic and white men.
Among blacks, rates decreased in all risk-factor categories except for those with a history of male-to-male sexual contact. Within risk categories, diagnoses tended to decrease far more among blacks than among Hispanics or whites.
During the same time period, gonorrhea rates also decreased significantly among blacks (EAPC = -8.7 among males and -7.4 among females). In contrast, the yearly number of publicly funded HIV tests in Florida increased significantly between 1999 and 2004.
"Examining data from other surveillance systems can assist public health professionals with interpreting HIV/AIDS diagnosis trends, as indicated by this report, in which multiple data sources support the finding that HIV/AIDS diagnosis rates among blacks decreased in Florida and that this decrease might have been associated with a decrease in high-risk sexual behavior," MMWR editors conclude.
Nonetheless, they note that rates of HIV and gonorrhea are still high among blacks, underscoring the need for "additional and improved prevention measures."
Mor Mortal Wkly Rep CDC Surveill Summ 2007;56:69-73.
Copyright
© 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar
means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of
Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the
content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the
Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the
Reuters group of companies around the world.
