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US AIDS Numbers Adjusted Up

New testing method discovers infection spreading faster

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 1, 2007 6:22 AM CST

(Newser) – AIDS is spreading faster among Americans than had been thought, the Washington Post reports. A new method of testing that distinguishes recent infections from older ones shows that the number of people becoming infected each year in the US is 50% higher than previously estimated, for an average of 60,000 rather than 40,000 new cases.

What experts aren't sure about is whether this means the AIDS epidemic in the US is accelerating or was bigger all along. They hope use of the new testing methods will give them a clearer picture. Better data-collecting methods were behind the UN's recent revision downwards of the number of people with AIDS worldwide.

Julie Potyraj, 20, of Norfolk, Mass., chants with other students, from the George Washington University chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign, outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, to call on the federal  government to cut the red tape around access to AIDS prevention and treatment....
Julie Potyraj, 20, of Norfolk, Mass., chants with other students, from the George Washington University chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign, outside the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov....   (Associated Press)
A large AIDS ribbon hangs from the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, in honor of World AIDS Day, which is officially marked around the world on Dec. 1. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
A large AIDS ribbon hangs from the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, in honor of World AIDS Day, which is officially marked around the world on Dec. 1. (AP Photo/Ron...   (Associated Press)
A woman walk past a anti-AIDS billboard in Mount Hagen. Activists worldwide are seeking to keep AIDS in the public eye.
A woman walk past a anti-AIDS billboard in Mount Hagen. Activists worldwide are seeking to keep AIDS in the public eye.   (Getty Images)
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