In a letter to colleagues on November 4th, the Minnesota Department of Health described their preliminary analysis of this year’s data (January – September) showing an increase in the overall number of new HIV diagnoses in Minnesota and highlighting a few trends of particular importance:

1) The number of cases diagnosed among adolescents and young adults (ages 15 – 24), will be up compared to last year. In 2008, there were a total of 59 new cases diagnosed in this age group. Between January and September 2009 we have received reports of 75 new cases, a 27 percent increase over the 2008 total numbers;

2) While the above increase affects both males and females, it is greater among young men, particularly among young gay and bisexual men; and,

3) Overall numbers are up by 25 percent and if the trend continues through the fourth quarter, we will see the highest number of new diagnoses since 1992.

This information is not yet available online, but will be released with the complete 2009 MDH HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report after January of 2010.

For more information about HIV in Minnesota, visit http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/hiv/index.html.

For the 2008 MDH HIV/AIDS Surveillance Reports, visit http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/hiv/hivsurvrpts.html.