In the last two years, the HIV infection rate for heterosexual African-American women in Washington, D.C.’s most impoverished neighborhoods has nearly doubled. According to a study released on Wednesday by the D.C. Department of Health, the infection went from 6.3 percent to 12.1 percent. The inflation reflects a wider testing of people who were previously unaware of their status and possibly a continually rising rate of new infections in that high-risk group, according to officials. According to the report, in 2010, there were 14,465 people or about 2.7 percent of D.C. residents older than 12 who were living with HIV or AIDS. The rate is among the highest in any U.S. city.
The infection remains at epidemic levels in the nation’s capital. During the release of the study, D.C. health officials announced new recommendations for doctors and other health-care providers to start treatment immediately for all people newly diagnosed with HIV instead of waiting for evidence that someone’s immune system has been severely damaged.
