Adolescent and Young Adult HIV and AIDS

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a disease that destroys cells that are critical to a healthy immune system. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is diagnosed when HIV has weakened the immune system enough that the body has difficulty fighting disease and infections. In 2009, an estimated 8,294 people aged 13–24 years were diagnosed with HIV, representing 19.7 percent of all cases. Between 2006 and 2009, the rate of diagnosed HIV infection decreased for younger adolescents (aged 13-14 years) while increasing for those aged 15-24 years. In 2009, the rates of diagnosed HIV infection among adolescents aged 13-14 years and 15-19 years were 0.3 and 12.0 per 100,000 population, respectively. Among young adults aged 20-24 years the rate was 36.9 per 100,000 — the highest rate of any age group.

By 2009, an estimated 51,455 adolescents and young adults had been diagnosed with AIDS, representing 4.6 percent of AIDS diagnoses. In 2008, the death rates for adolescents and young adults with AIDS remained stable with an estimated 205 deaths reported for individuals with an AIDS diagnosis in this population. Since the beginning of the epidemic through 2008, an estimated 10,682 persons aged 13–24 years have died with the disease.

Death rates among adolescents and young adults with a diagnosis of HIV infection or AIDS remained stable between 2006-2008.¹ In 2008, an estimated 29,056 people aged 13–24 years were living with HIV, representing 4.4 percent of all cases. Overall, the number of adolescents and young adults living with HIV increased nearly 17 percent between 2006 and 2008.

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV Surveillance Report, 2009; vol. 21. February 2011. Accessed April 2011.

This image is described in the Data section.