Important note: Information in this article was accurate in July 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
NIAID Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS Statistics
National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease - July 1998
HIV/AIDS WORLDWIDE
As of the end of 1997, an estimated 30.6 million people worldwide -- 29.5 million adults and 1.1 million children younger than 15 years -- were living with HIV/AIDS.1
Worldwide, approximately one in every 100 adults aged 15 to 49 is HIV-infected.1
Approximately 41 percent of the 29.5 million adults living with HIV/AIDS worldwide are women; this proportion is growing.1
An estimated 5.8 million new HIV infections occurred worldwide during 1997; that is, approximately 16,000 infections each day. More than 90 percent of these new infections occurred in developing countries.1
By the year 2000, an estimated 40 million people worldwide will be HIV-infected.1,2
Through 1997, cumulative HIV/AIDS-associated deaths worldwide numbered approximately 11.7 million -- 9 million adults and 2.7 million children.1
In 1997 alone, HIV/AIDS-associated illnesses caused the deaths of approximately 2.3 million people worldwide, including an estimated 460,000 children younger than 15 years.1
Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, approximately 8.2 million children younger than 15 years have been orphaned worldwide because of the premature deaths of HIV-infected parents.1
Worldwide, more than 75 percent of all adult HIV infections have resulted from heterosexual intercourse.2
Mother-to-child (vertical) transmission has accounted for more than 90 percent of all HIV infections worldwide in infants and children.1,2
HIV/AIDS IN THE UNITED STATES
In the United States, 641,086 cases of AIDS had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of Dec. 31, 1997.4
Of these, 534,532 (83 percent) were males aged 13 or older, 98,486 (15 percent) were females aged 13 or older, and 8,086 (1 percent) were children under age 13.4
New AIDS cases reported to the CDC declined 12 percent from the first six months of 1996 (33,590 cases) to the first six months of 1997 (29,520 cases).7
From 1985 to 1997, the proportion of U.S. AIDS cases in women reported each year increased from 7 percent to 22 percent.4
Of U.S. AIDS cases reported in 1997, 45 percent were among blacks, 33 percent among whites, 21 percent among Hispanics, and fewer than 1 percent among Asians/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaska Natives.4
During 1997, the rate of new AIDS cases per 100,000 population in the United States was 83.7 among blacks, 37.7 among Hispanics, 10.4 among whites, 10.4 among American Indians/Alaska Natives, and 4.5 among Asians/Pacific Islanders.4
A recent study estimated that 650,000 to 900,000 U.S. residents were living with HIV infection.5
As of July 1997, an estimated 259,000 people in the United States were living with AIDS.7
Among men diagnosed with AIDS in the United States in 1997, male-to-male sexual contact accounted for the largest proportion of cases (45 percent), followed by injection drug use (22 percent).4
Among women diagnosed with AIDS in the United States in 1997, most acquired HIV infection through sexual contact with a man with or at risk of HIV infection (38 percent) or through injection drug use (32 percent) .4
Heterosexual transmission accounts for an increasing proportion of AIDS cases in the United States. From 1991 to 1996, the estimated proportion of adult U.S. AIDS cases attributed to heterosexual contact each year grew from 8.5 percent to 17.5 percent.4
Through December 1997, 390,692 deaths among people with AIDS had been reported to the CDC.4 AIDS is now the second leading cause of death in the United States among people aged 25 to 44.6
Approximately 50,140 deaths among people with AIDS occurred in the United States in 1995. In 1996, the estimated number of AIDS deaths in the United States was 23 percent lower (38,780).3 AIDS deaths declined 44 percent from the first six months of 1996 (21,460 deaths) to the first six months of 1997 (12,040 deaths).7
REFERENCES
1. UNAIDS: Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic, June, 1998.
2. Quinn T. Global burden of the HIV pandemic. Lancet 1996;348:99-106.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Update: Trends in AIDS incidence -- United States, 1996. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report1997;46(37):861-867.
4. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 1997;9(no.2):1-44.
5. Karon JM, et al. Prevalence of HIV infection in the United States, 1984 to 1992. Journal of the American Medical Association 1996;276(2):126-131.
6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Monthly Vital Statistics Report, 1997. Vol 46, no. 1, suppl. 2.
7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fact Sheet: Preliminary Data Show Continued Decline in AIDS Incidence and Deaths. February, 1998.
NIAID, a component of the National Institutes of Health, supports research on AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases, as well as allergies and immunology.
Prepared by:
Office of Communications
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services July 1998
DT 980701
DOCN: NIAID98_FACT_SHEET_AIDSSTAT
Source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID). NIAID, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supports research on AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases, as well as allergies and immunology. NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
ÆGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Roxane Laboratories, Inc., iMetrikus, Inc., the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2000. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
ÆGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in July 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
