Estimated Lifetime Risk for Diagnosis of HIV Infection Among Hispanics/Latinos -- 37 States and Puerto Rico, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 59 MMWR 1297-1301 (Oct. 15, 2010)

This report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reflects the disproportionate estimated lifetime risk (ELR) for diagnosis of HIV infection among Hispanics/Latinos, compared with whites. The ELR for HIV diagnosis for Hispanics/Latinos was approximately three times that for whites and, among racial/ethnic populations, was greater than all populations except blacks/African Americans. Overall, ELR for HIV diagnosis among Hispanics/Latinos was 1.92%, compared with 4.65% for blacks/African Americans, 1.86% for Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders, 0.76% for American Indians/Alaska Natives, 0.59% for whites, and 0.45% for Asians By sex, the ELR for Hispanic/Latino males and females was three times and five times that for white males and females, respectively. 

To calculate the estimated lifetime risk (ELR) for diagnosis of HIV infection among Hispanics/Latinos, the CDC analyzed HIV surveillance data, vital statistics data on general and HIV-specific mortality, and U.S. census data from 2007. The findings in this report are subject to several limitations, although a few of the limitations are common to all reports of this kind regardless of the racial/ethnic group targeted. Most importantly, the estimates of HIV diagnoses are from 37 states and Puerto Rico and thus do not represent all HIV diagnoses in the United States. HIV surveillance data from several high-prevalence areas with sizeable Hispanic/Latino populations (e.g., California) were not yet available and therefore not included.