MMWR: Racial/Ethnic Disparities Among Children with Diagnoses of Perinatal HIV Infection --- 34 States, 2004--2007

This report describes the most recent trends in diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection by race/ethnicity, by summarizing results of analyses of national surveillance data from 34 states from 2004-2007. During 2004-2007, 85 percent of diagnoses of perinatal HIV were in blacks or African Americans (69 percent) or Hispanics or Latinos (16 percent). The average annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV during that time was 12.3 per 100,000 among blacks, 2.1 per 100,000 among Hispanics, and 0.5 per 100,000 among whites. From 2004-2007, the racial/ethnic disparity narrowed and the annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV for black children decreased from 14.9 to 10.2 per 100,000 and for Hispanic children from 2.9 to 1.7 per 100,000. To further reduce perinatal HIV transmission and racial/ethnic disparities, HIV-infected pregnant women are advised to receive timely prenatal care, early antiretroviral treatment, and other recommended interventions.