New info on prevalence of HIV in US households

Around half of 1% (0.47%) of the US household population between the ages of 18 and 49 are living with HIV, according to estimates from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) based on surveys conducted between 1999-2006.

The findings are summarized in a CDC Data Brief, which uses data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to provide a snapshot of HIV prevalence in this population group. The NHANES does not focus exclusively on populations that may be at high risk for HIV, such as men who have sex with men, injection drug users, homeless or incarcerated individuals. These data are roughly equivalent to the NCHS' previous prevalence estimate for this population from a 1988-94 survey.

This report also does not include data on the number of individuals newly infected with HIV, known as incidence. New CDC estimates of annual HIV incidence are currently under development by the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention.