New HIV/AIDS diagnoses drop for the third straight year in Cuyahoga County

A report presented to the Cuyahoga County HIV Planning Services Council/Ryan White Title A Services on March 16, 2010 show that new (incident) cases of HIV-only and HIV-with-AIDS has dropped to

New HIV+ diagnoses across the county, 2008-09. Source: CDPH

Recent HIV/AIDS surveillance data collected by the Cleveland Department of Public Health reveal a continued decrease in the number of new, or incident, HIV-positive persons living in Cuyahoga County. In 2009, 184 residents were diagnosed with HIV-only or HIV-with-AIDS, an 8% decrease from 2008. This is the fourth year in a row for case counts to decrease since 2005, when 249 new diagnoses were made, the highest count in the decade.

The report, "2009 HIV/AIDS Surveillance for Cuyahoga County" is available at this link. (Adobe .pdf format)

The report was presented to the Cuyahoga County HIV Planning Services Council/Ryan White Title A Services on March 16, 2010, and then updated for their next meeting on April 21, 2010. Limited to a single page, the initial report reported only prevalence and incidence. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the county reflects the burden of the disease on county and city systems of care. As of December 2009, there were some 4,075 persons that were HIV-positive who resided in the county at any last report to the health department. This reflects a prevalence of 317.4 per 100,000 persons compared to national levels of 370 per 100,000 (in 2006). However, prevalence in Cleveland (670 per 100,000) is twice as high than county levels.  

Maps showing new HIV+ cases

The report also presents charts and tables reflecting incidence of HIV for 2009 and 2008-2009.

Two maps are included in the final version of the report. These maps show the distribution of incident (new) diagnoses made in 2008-09 for all ages (click image) and those age 13 to 24 years. Over one-third of new diagnoses are made to youth and young adults in this age range. This map can be found at the end of the report.

The area with the highest number of new diagnoses (7 in two years) is in zip code 44109, reflecting parts of the Old Brooklyn, Brooklyn-Center, and Clark-Fulton neighborhoods of Cleveland. Other zip codes with high numbers (4 to 5 each) of youth and young adults diagnosed with HIV are 44111 and 44102 on the West Side of Cleveland , and an area that connects 44103, 44104, 44108, 44120, and 44128 on the East Side of Cleveland, East Cleveland, parts of Shaker Heights, Warrensville Hts., North Randall and Orange.

Other links

An earlier report focusing on incidence in Cleveland for 2009 can be found at this link.