State HIV tally dips, but not among young men

The number of new HIV infections among adolescents and young men in Minnesota has remained high for the second year in a row, according to new state figures released Tuesday.

While the 72 new infections among males age 13 to 24 last year was a decline from the 78 new cases in 2009, both figures were sharply higher than annual totals over the past decade.

"That's alarming," said Peter Carr, who directs HIV surveillance for the Minnesota Department of Health.

"We still don't have a solid explanation, but it's likely to be related to complacency -- particularly among young gay men, and the fact that HIV is not as scary as it used to be," Carr said. "It's still a life-changing event, but it's typically not as fatal as it was" in the 1980s and 1990s.

Carr said the apparent apathy may reflect the success of anti-retroviral medications, which can prevent HIV infections from progressing to full-blown AIDS (a disease diagnosed when enough of a patient's immune system has been destroyed by the virus) and from being fatal.

The rising infection rate among young men belied a positive overall trend in 2010. The total number of new HIV infections dropped from 370 in 2009 to 331 last year (still the second-highest annual tally since 2000). The number of new infections dropped among women overall and among young women.

The report found 173 people whose infections had progressed from HIV to AIDS last year. That was the lowest tally since 2001. There were 51 AIDS-related deaths last year, but that total could increase as the state is notified of more cases. There are now 6,814 Minnesotans living with HIV or AIDS.