Annual new HIV infections in the U.S. down 73% since 1980s, CDC estimates

The number of new yearly HIV infections in the U.S. has decreased by 73% since the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic during the mid-1980s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in a new report. 

"Despite the lack of a cure or a vaccine, today's HIV prevention tools, including HIV testing, prompt and sustained treatment, preexposure prophylaxis, and comprehensive syringe service programs, provide an opportunity to substantially decrease new HIV infections," the CDC stated. It recommended "intensifying efforts to implement these strategies equitably" to continue reducing transmission, illnesses and deaths. The estimates were calculated by analyzing data from the National HIV Surveillance System. The CDC study estimated 2.2 million total new HIV infections between 1981 to 2019. Using those numbers, researchers compared trends by sex at birth, race and ethnicity, and transmission category.