There are more than one million people living with HIV in the United States and one in seven of them are unaware that they are infected, according to Blackdoctor.org.
After more than 40 years of dealing with the HIV-AIDS epidemic, the numbers are not nearly as robust as they were in the ’80s, but are more concentrated among key populations. Seventy percent of yearly infections have been recorded among gay men, which directly affects African Americans, followed by Latino-Hispanic men.
Below are the seven cities with the highest infection rates.
7. Atlanta
Atlanta was previously No. 4 on the list with more than 1,000 people diagnosed annually. Sadly, 50% of the infected are not diagnosed until they develop AIDS.
6. Memphis, Tennessee
“A particularly concerning statistic from 2014 shows that about 2,000 people in Memphis who have the disease are not aware of it,” GetTested.com reports. “So they may continue to spread the infection.”
According to HIV.gov, African American gay and bisexual men are affected the most by HIV. White gay and bisexual men are right behind them. Among heterosexual relationships, 24 percent of the masses were diagnosed in 2015 and 6% were the result of injection drug use.
5. Orlando, Florida
The CDC reports that HIV diagnoses in Orlando decreased by 0.9 percent between 2013-2015, with new infections declining as well.
4. Jackson, Mississippi
In Jackson, there is a pill being promoted that can reportedly prevent one from being infected, according to GetTested.com. Even if you have sex with an infected person, this pill — the PrEP — will keep the virus at bay.
PrEP — Pre-exposure prophylaxis — is a preventive medication meant to be taken daily. More info can be found at WhatisPrEP.org.
3. New Orleans
More than 19K people in Louisiana have been diagnosed with HIV and over half of them have AIDS. While African Americans only make up 32 percent of the state’s population, in 2011, they accounted for 73 percent of new cases in the state, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
2. Miami
Back in 2015, Miami had the highest infection rate of HIV cases in the country, according to the CDC. It is speculated that the ongoing accelerated infection rate is due to the city’s culture.
1. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Yep, another city in Louisiana is at the top of this list. Unfortunately, Baton Rouge, the state capital, is No. 1 and it is being reported that many of the infections “are due to shared needles since the city is the center of a massive opiate addiction issue.”
