HIV/AIDS numbers on the rise again in Iowa

Diagnosed cases of HIV and AIDS infections were rising in Iowa last year after a one-year drop in numbers.

Jerry Harms of the state Department of Health said 70 HIV and 46 AIDS diagnoses were reported during the first half of 2009 and that both figures topped the averages for the previous five-year periods.

Final figures for 2009 won't be available until March, Harms said.

Iowa reported a record 126 HIV diagnoses in 2007 before dropping to 107 the following year. Health officials reported 26 HIV-related deaths in Iowa in 2008.

“It looks like they're going to be up,” Harms said. “It looks like we could be approaching 2007 numbers. I don't think they're going to be beyond historical highs and the ‘why' of it at this point is unknown.”

Harms said drawing many conclusions about trends or factors in tracking the disease is difficult because of the relatively small number of HIV/AIDS cases in Iowa.

As of June 30 last year, 1,667 people living in Iowa - 1,314 males and 353 females - had tested positively for HIV or AIDS. They included 11 children under the age of 13.

The data can be affected by increases in the levels of testing and dissemination of prevention messages, Harms said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that one in every five people infected with HIV does not know it and an increased push is under way to encourage people to get tested, Harms said.

He also said it is unclear whether the increased numbers reflect new diagnoses or people who moved to Iowa after having been diagnosed elsewhere previously.

A total of 58 males and 12 females were diagnosed with HIV infections and 39 males and seven females with the AIDS disease between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2009. The yearly average for the period from 2004 through 2008 was 53 HIV diagnoses and 39 AIDS diagnoses.

Polk County had the highest number of residents diagnosed with HIV or AIDS with 470. Next, in order, were Scott County with 172, Johnson County with 128, Linn County with 113, Black Hawk County with 81, Pottawattamie County with 64 and Woodbury County with 62. Also, 62 inmates were diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in Iowa's nine prisons as of June 30.