U.S. HIV rate surpasses 1 million mark

ATLANTA, Jun 14, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- For the first time, the number of people in the United States living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has surpassed the million mark.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported between 1.039 million and 1.185 million Americans carried the virus in December 2003, up from between 850,000 and 950,000 at the end of 2000.

The CDC said blacks account for just 12.5 percent of the U.S. population but represent about 47 percent of people living with HIV. Whites represent 34 percent of those living with AIDS and 75.1 percent of the total population.

The report said about 45 percent of infected individuals were gay men, followed by 27 percent who had contracted the virus through high-risk heterosexual contact and 22 percent through injection drug use.

Males accounted for 72 percent of all new HIV diagnoses among adults between 2000 and 2003.