The Centers for Disease Control has announced that the new cases of HIV infections were underestimated by 40 percent each year. The discovery was made as a new test for the virus has been developed.

The estimated figure of  new HIV cases in the United States for the year 2006 was 40,000, but, based on the new tests, it seems that 56,000 people got infected with the virus that year. The CDC stressed the fact that while the new figures show that more people with AIDS or HIV are living in the United States than previously thought, this is not due to an epidemic outburst. In fact, the epidemic seems to be under control, and the number of people who get infected each year is slightly decreasing.

The new blood test allowed the CDC to better determine the demographics of the epidemic. It seems that in 2006, 73 percent of the new persons infected with HIV were men, while only 27 percent were women. 45 percent of the new cases were found among African-Americans, while whites accounted for 35 percent and Hispanics for only 17 percent. However, compared to whites, African-Americans were 7 times more likely to be infected with the virus, while a Hispanic's risk of being infected was 3 times higher.

While figures show that, thanks to needle exchange programs and prevention campaigns, the risk of getting infected has diminished among drug consumers, this is not the case for men engaging in homosexual intercourse. 83 percent of the cases of HIV infections were found in gay and bisexual men, and the figures continue to grow.