More AIDS cases in Big Cities, says the CDC

Seattle – If you want to avoid being infected with the AIDS virus, you should avoid living in big cities, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control indicates.

The CDC found that big cities, in 10 American states, accounted for a majority of reported HIV infections—71 percent. Moreover, those living in big cities reported 85 percent of all HIV infections.

This percentage shows an increase from 2007, when the figure was 82 percent.

AIDS, first discovered in the 1980s, is a disease that attacks, and cripples, the human immune system, which then opens the door to all types of germs, bacteria, and illnesses. It begins with an HIV infection, which is transmitted by an exchange of HIV infected bodily fluids, such as semen and blood. Eventually, usually around 10 years later, HIV leads to AIDS, which is always fatal.

At this time, there is no cure for AIDS, although there are a number of medications that slow the progression of the disease and prolong the patient’s life. But the research needed to develop these medications, and to eventually find a cure for AIDS, has not been cheap. The CDC reports that the federal government spent $23.3 billion in 2008 on AIDS-related issues such as medical care, research, housing/financial assistance for patients, and AIDS prevention campaigns. Twenty-five percent of that money has also gone to help other countries fight AIDS.

Worldwide, HIV has infected 33 million people and killed 25 million—and there doesn’t seem to be an end in site. The CDC, using new methods to calculate HIV infections, recently reported that there were 56,300 new infections in the United States in 2006. In 2007, 37,041 new cases were reported.

The link between big cities and high rates of HIV/AIDS does not come as a surprise to some people, who attribute it to the difference in lifestyles between big city-dwellers and rural folks. There are simply more opportunities, they say, for you to interact with HIV infected people in big cities than there are in rural settings.

But don’t think that just those that live in big cities are at risk for HIV infection. This disease has no geographical boundaries. The best way to ensure your safety from AIDS, say experts, is to follow these guidelines:

*Always practice “safe sex,” either by using a condom or by practicing abstinence
*Never share a hypodermic needle with another person
*Never use an object of another person’s where bodily fluids can be exchanged