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Average life expectancy for HIV-infected patients in the U.S. has improved dramatically since the introduction of potent combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). In this study, CDC investigators attempted to quantify the increase, using HIV surveillance data from 25 states with name-based HIV reporting.
From 1996 through 2005, a total of 220,646 individuals in these states were diagnosed with HIV infection. Fifty-five percent were black, 36% were white, and 9% were Hispanic; 74% were men. Thirty-three percent had a CD4 count <200 cells/mm3 at or within 6 months after diagnosis. By the end of 2007, 10,366 of the HIV-infected individuals had died.
Average life expectancy from the time of diagnosis increased by 12 years during the study period …