Health Notes: Minnesota AIDS cases centered in Twin Cities

Cases of HIV/AIDS are far more prevalent in the Twin Cities metro area than in the rest of the state, the Minnesota Department of Health said in a report this week.

New HIV cases in 2011 were concentrated within the Twin Cities metropolitan area — 86 percent — with an 11 percent increase reported in the suburbs in 2011 compared to 2010, the health department said in a news release. About 54 percent of the state’s total population is in the metro area.

Overall, the number of new cases dropped from 331 in 2010 to 292 in 2011, the health department said. But there were increases in certain population groups.

HIV cases among women rose 9 percent with increases seen among African-born, black, Latina and Asian women, the report said. Heterosexual sex was the leading risk factor for women, accounting for 98 percent of cases. Women of color accounted for 81 percent of all new cases among women.

A total of 9,785 HIV/AIDS cases have been reported since the health department began tracking AIDS in 1982 and HIV in 1985, the news release said. An estimated 7,136 people are living with HIV in Minnesota.

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