HIV rate drops among needle-drug users

Mar 3 2012

About 1 in 10 needle drug users tested positive for HIV in 2009, a steep drop from the rate recorded in the 1990s, which was 1 in 5.

The Associated Press: U.S. Report: HIV Rate Down In Needle-Drug Users
There's some good news from the AIDS front: Fewer needle drug users are testing positive for HIV. U.S. health officials said Thursday the rate has dropped by half since the 1990s. The decline may be related to a growth in needle exchange programs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the study. More than 10,000 drug users in 20 metropolitan areas were surveyed and tested for HIV in 2009. About 1 in 10 tested positive for the virus, compared to roughly 1 in 5 in the 1990s (Stobbe, 3/1).

MSNBC/Reuters: HIV Rate Among U.S. Intravenous Drug Users Falls: CDC
HIV infections among intravenous drug users in the United States have fallen by half in the past decade, but HIV testing is also down and risky behaviors such as needle-sharing persist, U.S. health experts said on Thursday. A study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention based on a 2009 survey of 10,000 people from 20 urban areas found that 9 percent of IV drug users were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That compares with a rate of 18 percent in the 1990s (3/1).