October 12, 2007

U.S. Latino Infections Vary by Birthplace

How U.S. Latinos become infected with HIV differs greatly depending on where they were born, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports (per Reuters, 10/11).

The CDC’s report, based on data from 33 states, found that rates of infection through male-to-male sexual contact, heterosexual intercourse and injection drug use were higher in some groups than others. For example, nearly half of Latinos born in the Dominican Republic or Central America were infected through high-risk heterosexual sex, as opposed to 28 percent of those born in the U.S.

"We're a very diverse community," said Dennis deLeon, president of the Latino Commission on AIDS advocacy group. "We're diverse in how long we've been here [in the United States]. We're diverse in our levels of education. We're diverse in our health literacy. And I think for too long the CDC has been treating Latinos as all the same."

According to the report, these differences could be due in part to cultural and socioeconomic differences among Latino subgroups.