Needle Sharing and AIDS in Minorities

The distribution of various modes of HIV acquisition differed between minority group members and whites and the number of persons meeting the Centers for Disease Control definition of AIDS among adults and in the pediatric age group.

Abstract

To the Editor.— Education remains at the center of current strategies to stem the spread of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus. This places a greater emphasis on investigations to provide crucial information for these efforts at prevention. One of the recurring themes in these studies conducted in the United States has been the disproportionately greater risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in ethnic minorities. This greater prevalence of HIV in minorities is exemplified in the number of persons meeting the Centers for Disease Control definition of AIDS among adults and in the pediatric age group.1Seroprevalence studies among military recruits,2intravenous drug abusers (IVDAs),33 homosexual/bisexual men,4and prostitutes5also demonstrate higher rates of HIV infection among blacks and Hispanics. The distribution of various modes of HIV acquisition differed between minority group members and whites.1Cases of AIDS attributed to intravenous drug