Estimates of U.S. HIV cases rise 50 percent: reports

Estimates of U.S. HIV cases rise 50 percent: reports
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government is raising itsestimate of how many Americans are becoming infected with theAIDS virus every year by 50 percent, according to newspaperreports on Saturday.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nowbelieves the number of new HIV infections each year is between55,000 and 60,000 -- up from the 40,000 figure used for thepast decade, The Washington Post reported.
The Post cited two unidentified people in contact with thescientists preparing the new estimate.
It said the higher figures were based on data from 19states and large cities that were extrapolated to the nation asa whole. The CDC has not made the new estimate public.
The Wall Street Journal also reported the CDC's expectedupward revision, citing unidentified outside researchers andpublic health officials.
The Journal said Robert Janssen, director of the CDC'sDivision of HIV/AIDS Prevention, declined to comment on the newestimates, saying they could change.
The newspapers attributed the revision to new testingtechnology developed by the U.S. public health agency, whichalso revised its methodology to make estimates more precise.
"The higher estimate is the product of a new method oftesting blood samples that can identify those who were infectedwithin the previous five months. With a way to distinguishrecent infections from long-standing ones, epidemiologists canthen estimate how many new infections are appearing nationwideeach month or year," the Post said.
(Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Richard Balmforth)