The rate of new HIV infections in Philadelphia is 50 percent higher than that of New York City and five times the national average, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The new numbers are based on the same 2006 data released in August by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that estimated the number of U.S. HIV infections was 40 percent higher than previously believed.

“It’s a wake-up call that we’ve got to do better,” said John Cella, Philadelphia’s top AIDS official.

According to the new data, more than half of Philadelphia’s 1,400 annual HIV infections are linked to heterosexual contact, a third to men who have sex with men (MSM) and 13 percent to intravenous drug use.