Welcome to HIV.com

This site is for those seeking information on HIV and AIDS. If you have just been diagnosed with HIV, you may be overwhelmed by emotions ranging from anger to disbelief to fear. It is important to get started and take some ACTION as you work to manage your health.

In the United States, over 600,000 reported cases of AIDS have been recorded since 1981 and it is believed that 900,000 Americans may be infected with HIV. Although development time varies from individual to individual, since 1992 scientists have estimated that roughly half of the people living with HIV will develop AIDS within 10 years of becoming infected. AIDS is growing most rapidly among minority populations, as well as women and injection drug users. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of AIDS is six times higher in African-Americans and three times higher among Hispanics than among whites.

AIDS was first reported in the United States in 1981 and HIV was first identified in 1983, however, studies of stored blood samples indicate that HIV first entered the U.S. population in the late 1970s. Recently, there has been an overall stabilization in the emergence of new AIDS cases in the United States, however, worldwide the epidemic continues to rage, particularly in developing countries and the African continent. According to the NIAID, an estimated 30.6 million globally were living with HIV/AIDS as of December 1997 and the figure was projected to reach 40 million by the year 2000 -- more than 75% of adult infections were as a result of heterosexual contact.

The material on HIV.com is for general information only. Site sources: CDC, NIH, Johns Hopkins AIDS Service, NIAID and APLA

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