The Washington Times is reporting that the CDC released a study yesterday of the nearly 48,000 new HIV cases in the U.S. in 2010, the latest year for which full data is available, which found that more than 12,000 (26%) involved teens and young adults between the ages of 13 to 24.
Even more alarming is the fact that the majority (72%) of these cases in young adults occurred in young men who are homosexual or bisexual.
The report found that black youth accounted for the largest share of new HIV cases, with Latino and white youth accounting for about 20 percent each.
“That so many young people become infected with HIV each year is a preventable tragedy,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, CDC Director. “All young people can protect their health, avoid contracting and transmitting the virus, and learn their HIV status.”
Frieden said that about 60 percent of infected young people don't know they're infected, which means they don't get treatment for themselves, nor are they aware of the risks for transmitting the disease to others.
The report has generated a call for more HIV/AIDS education in general, which may be overlooked in typical school-based anti-bullying programs produced by gay activist groups that promote homosexuality while focusing mainly on the risks of bullying rather than on the medical dangers of same-sex relations.
However, there was no specific call for reviewing these programs. Instead, authorities are calling for more "routine" testing for youth, as well as prevention and testing programs that target certain populations of at-risk youth.
“It will take a concerted effort at all levels across our nation to empower all young people, especially young gay and bisexual youth, with the tools and resources they need to protect themselves from HIV infection,” said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC’s national center on HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted disease and tuberculosis prevention.
To date, there are an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States. More than half a million people, 619,000, have died of AIDS since the epidemic began in the early 1980s.
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