HIV diagnoses have been steadily decreasing among U.S. youth overall for the past several years; however, trends varied for different groups of youth, according to the CDC. New cases of HIV among young women were down 32 percent while new cases of HIV among young men remained relatively unchanged. Among young gay and bisexual men by race and ethnicity, HIV diagnoses among Hispanic/Latino men were up 17 percent, white men were down 6 percent, and black/African American men were down 5 percent.
Eighty-seven percent of youth with an HIV diagnosis are male and 13 percent female. Less than 1 percent of youth having received an HIV diagnosis are aged 13 to 14, 21 percent are aged 15 to 19, and 79 percent are aged 20 to 24, according to the CDC.
New HIV diagnoses among youth, broken down by transmission category and sex, in the U.S. are as follows, per the CDC:
Male
- 93 percent by male-to-male sexual contact
- 3 percent by heterosexual contact
- 3 percent by male-to-male sexual contact and injection use
- 1 percent by injection use
- Less than 1 percent by other methods
Female
- 86 percent by heterosexual contact
- 11 percent by injection drug use
- 3 percent by other methods
New HIV diagnoses among young gay and bisexual men, broken down by race and ethnicity in the U.S. are as follows, per the CDC:
- 51 percent black/African American
- 25 percent Hispanic/Latino
- 18 percent white
- 6 percent other races/ethnicities