WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (AFP) - The number of HIV/AIDS cases is up in the United States among homosexual and bisexual men, according to government figures published Wednesday, suggesting a nationwide resurgence of the epidemic.
HIV/AIDS cases in that group have risen 11 percent between 2000 and 2003, according to a survey conducted in 32 states by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The rate of infection among other segments of the population remained stable during the same period, according to the CDC.
The report was published as part of World AIDS Day.
"Men who have sex with men continue to constitute a substantial proportion of HIV/AIDS cases," the CDC said.
The rate of infection was at 19.7 cases per 100,000 people in 2003 against 19.5 for 100,000 in 2000, according to the CDC.
Between 2000 and 2003, more than 125,000 people were diagnosed with either HIV -- the virus that leads to AIDS -- or full-blown AIDS in the 32 US states surveyed, according to the CDC. Of those, 44 percent were bisexual or homosexual men.
More than 23 million people have died around the world since AIDS first emerged in 1981 as a disease that wrecks the immune system, leaving the body exposed to infection by other viruses and bacteria.
The number of AIDS-related deaths in the United States hit an annual peak of 52,000 in 1995 before seeing major falls with the advent of new medications. Those falls continued through 2001, but the following year saw a rise to 16,371 AIDS deaths, according to the CDC.
More than 500,000 people are now believed to have died from AIDS in the United States, with almost 900,000 estimated to be infected with the virus.
California, New York and 16 other states that had not used a system protecting the identity of those infected for at least four years were not included in the CDC survey.
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