Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - Wednesday, February 10, 1999
There were 1,256 new AIDS cases reported to authorities in 1998, down from 1,863 in 1997. It was the lowest number of of newly reported AIDS cases in the state since 1980, when there were 1,214 new cases.
State public health officials credit strong new drug therapies and years' worth of prevention efforts with the downward trend.
"For four straight years we have seen AIDS cases decline as the public heeds the prevention messages... and as medicaltechnology makes dramatic progress in treating HIV infection," said state public health director John R. Lumpkin, in a statement accompanying the new report.
"We can applaud the fact that caseloads are down, but we must continue efforts to stop HIV infections from occurring," he said. According to the 1998 data, men made up more than three-fourths of the new AIDS cases -- accounting for 959 of the total.
Officials suspect about half of the new cases were spread by homosexual contact, with 29 percent attributed to intravenous drug use and 9 percent to heterosexual contact -- up from 3 percent in 1997.
Among women, use of contaminated needles was the most common risk factor, accounting for 44 percent of the new female cases. Heterosexual contact was blamed in another 40 percent of the cases.
The cause of the transmission was undetermined in amny of the remaining cases.
The new cases bring the cumulative total of diagnosed AIDS cases in the state to 21,557 -- the sixth-highest state total in the nation behind New York, California, Florida, Texas and New Jersey.
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