New HIV cases among Iowa’s 15- to 24-year-olds increased 45 percent in 2008, according to health officials and reported on by the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Overall, 128 new HIV diagnoses were reported last year—the highest number in the state since HIV reporting began in 1998.

Despite the increase in new infections, HIV testing at publicly funded sites has decreased since 1992. According to Randy Mayer, an epidemiologist and chief for the state’s Bureau of HIV, STD and Hepatitis at the Iowa Department of Public Health, the number of Iowans reporting having ever taken an HIV test has been at or below 30 percent.