75,000 have HIV/AIDS in New York City

[rodbarnett]

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- More than 75,000 people in New York City are known to be living with AIDS or are infected with the virus that causes the disease, health researchers reported.

The finding puts the prevalence of the deadly epidemic in the city at levels usually seen in Third World nations.

"Overall, about 1 percent of the total population of New York City is living with human immunodeficiency virus," said Denis Nash, an epidemiologist with the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, part of the New York Academy of Medicine.

In a report at the 11th Annual Retrovirus Conference, Nash said the new figures, which were developed after the state of New York required health officials to report HIV cases, also show:

-- About 2.8 percent of all the men in New York City have HIV infection or have been diagnosed with AIDS, the late stage of infection.

-- About 3.9 percent of all men between the ages of 40 to 49 years have HIV infection or AIDS.

-- An estimated 25 percent of the people who live in New York and are infected with HIV are not aware of their status. Those people are not included in the totals.

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040210-080401-8625r