An epidemiologic update on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Minnesota.

Since 1982 a cumulative total of 7,073 Minnesotans have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS and reported to the Minnesota Department of Health. The annual number of new infections has been relatively stable at just under 300 per year since 1996. Due in large part to advances in antiretroviral medications, more Minnesotans were known to be living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2002 (4,598 people) than ever before. Men who have sex with men, racial/ethnic minorities (particularly, African Americans and Hispanic men), and individuals in urban areas continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. The proportion of cases attributable to heterosexual contact has gradually increased over the past 20 years. Marked increases over the past several years in the number of new HIV infections diagnosed among African-born persons is a trend of concern in the evolving HIV/AIDS epidemic in Minnesota.