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Estimated Annual Number of HIV Infections, United States, 1981–2019

CDC Media Relations
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Annual new HIV infections have declined by 73% since the peak of the epidemic in 1984 and 1985. In 2019, disparities in new infections occurred among gay and bisexual men, transgender women, and African American and Hispanic/Latino people and highlight the need for greater efforts to provide equitable access to HIV prevention and care. CDC used National HIV Surveillance System data to estimate annual HIV incidence (new HIV infections) in the United States from 1981–2019. Following a peak of 130,400 infections in 1984 and 1985, HIV incidence was relatively stable at about 50,000 to 58,000 new infections annually from 1991–2007 before decreasing in recent years to 34,800 in 2019 — a decline of 73%. However, disparities continue. In 2019, gay and bisexual men, including those who inject drugs, accounted for 70% of new HIV infections. African American people accounted for 41% and Hispanic/Latino people for 29%. Transgender women also bear a significant burden of HIV. Greater efforts to provide equitable access to HIV prevention and care are critical to addressing these disparities and ending HIV in the United States.

COVID-19 Severity and COVID-19–Associated Deaths Among Hospitalized Patients with HIV Infection — Zambia, March–December 2020

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A study conducted by CDC and partners in Zambia found that among people living with HIV, those with severe HIV disease were more likely to develop severe COVID-19-related illness and were also at increased risk for COVID-19-related death. Ensuring that people living with HIV manage their disease and treatment, including adhering to treatment regimens to ensure sustained viral suppression and addressing and managing underlying medical conditions, could reduce COVID-19-related illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa. The relationship between severe HIV disease and poor COVID-19 outcomes emphasizes the importance of Zambia’s HIV prevention and control efforts, as well as efforts to maintain HIV services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the first COVID-19 cases were detected in Zambia in March 2020, the national HIV program has made a concerted effort to continue to identify new people with HIV infections and initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART) as part of routine HIV case management. HIV infection alone was not associated with worse outcomes among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Zambia. These findings are consistent with results from smaller studies in North America, Europe, and South Africa. The data also contribute to a growing body of evidence indicating that the risk for poor outcomes among HIV-positive people hospitalized for COVID-19 is similar to that in the HIV-negative population. However, among HIV-positive people, those with severe HIV disease (who were severely anemic, had low levels of CD4 immune cells, had active tuberculosis, or were underweight) were more likely to develop severe COVID-19-related illness and were at increased risk for COVID-19-related death. In Zambia and other sub-Saharan African countries with high HIV burdens and limited capacity to treat severe COVID-19, continued efforts to manage HIV could help limit illness related to both COVID-19 and HIV, as well as limit COVID-19-related death. Those efforts include steps to ensure that HIV-positive people maintain control of their HIV infections through continued care and adherence to ART, as well as by addressing and managing their underlying medical conditions.

Impact of Policy and Funding Decisions on COVID-19 Surveillance Operations and Case Reports — South Sudan, April 2020–February 2021

CDC Media Relations
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In South Sudan and possibly other countries, COVID-19 surveillance data are likely to have been affected by changes in response strategy, funding, and policy, in addition to transmission patterns. Testing for COVID-19 increased in South Sudan between April 2020 and February 2021 but shifted toward testing sources far less likely to yield a positive result. This might have resulted in underreporting of positive cases. COVID-19 surveillance data can be better understood in the context of a country’s response strategy, funding, and policy. To assess how changing surveillance operations might have affected reporting, testing and case numbers reported during April 6, 2020–February 21, 2021 in South Sudan were examined relative to the timing of implementation of funding, policy, and strategy changes. Surveillance data were analyzed from five sources: travel screening (before outbound travel), point of entry screening, testing of symptomatic people through an alert hotline, contact tracing, and surveillance at sentinel health clinic sites. Investigators found that testing of symptomatic persons calling into an alert hotline and testing through contact tracing decreased after support for those systems decreased. Over the same time period, changes in travel policies drove increased demand for pre-travel screening and, by February 2021, travel screening accounted for more than 90% of daily tests. Overall, testing increased in South Sudan over the study period, but shifted toward testing sources far less likely to yield a positive result. Travel screening testing targets asymptomatic populations with no known exposure to COVID-19 and had the lowest overall positive results throughout the study period. These changes might have resulted in underreporting of positive cases.

Patterns in COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage by Social Vulnerability and Urbanicity — United States, December 14, 2020–May 1, 2021 (Early Release May 28, 2021)

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Excess Death Estimates in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease — United States, February–August 2020 (Early Release June 1, 2021)

CDC Media Relations
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• Percentage of Adults Who Are Very Worried About Ability to Pay Medical Bills if They Get Sick or Have an Accident, by Home Ownership and Age Group — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2019

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CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.