Shocking underreporting of American H.I.V. infection rate

According to the New York Times, the United States has significantly underreported the number of new H.I.V. infections occurring nationally each year. A study released here on Saturday showing that the annual infection rate is 40 percent higher than previously estimated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 56,300 people became newly infected with H.I.V in 2006, compared with the 40,000 figure the agency had been dishing out recently.

The findings show that H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, has its greatest effect among gay and bisexual men of all races (53 percent of all new infections) and among African-American men and women.

The new figures reveal that the H.I.V. epidemic is and has been worse than previously known, according to Dr. Kevin A. Fenton, who directs H.I.V. prevention efforts at the agency.

C.D.C. officials said the revised figure did not necessarily represent an increase in the number of new infections but reflected the ability of a new testing method to more precisely measure H.I.V. incidence and secure a better understanding of the epidemic.

Dr. Philip Alcabes, an epidemiologist at Hunter College in Manhattan, raised questions about the validity of the findings. If they are true, the agency has undercounted new H.I.V. infections by roughly 15,000 per year for about 15 years. "Therefore, there are roughly 225,000 more people living with H.I.V. in the U.S. than previously suspected," he said. "The previous estimate was 1 million to 1.1 million."

Dr. Gerberding, the disease centers' director, said the new findings were "unacceptable," adding that new efforts must be made to lower the infection rates. "We are not effectively reaching men who have sex with men and African-Americans to lower their risk," she said.