Monitoring the incidence of HIV infection in the United States

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains a national surveillance system that provides data about the HIV/AIDS epidemic for program planning and resource allocation. Until recently, incidence of HIV infection (i.e., the number of individuals recently infected with HIV) has not been directly measured. New serologic testing methods make it possible to distinguish between recent and long-standing HIV-1 infection on a population level. This article describes the new National HIV Incidence Surveillance System.