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Notice to Readers: Publication of Revised HIV/AIDS Surveillance
Report, 2005
Each year the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and
TB Prevention at CDC publishes an HIV/AIDS surveillance report. On June 28, 2007, CDC published online a revised
2005 report to correct an error in the calculation of the number of estimated AIDS cases for the period 2001--2005; this
error resulted in an overestimate of 2% for the period 2001--2005 and 8.3% for the year 2005
(1). These data were published online initially in November 2006 in CDC's
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2005
(2).
CDC identified the error when reviewing computer programs in preparation for analyzing data for the 2006 report.
An error in the computer code used to adjust for reporting delays in AIDS cases led to overestimation of AIDS cases for
the period 2001--2005. Because 20% of AIDS cases typically are reported >1 year after diagnosis with AIDS, estimates are used
to adjust for reporting delays and to allow for evaluation of data from recent years. The error has been corrected, and a
complete
external review of procedures for data estimation and validity checks has been conducted to ensure that this type of error
does not occur again.
The error affected only estimated AIDS cases for the period 2001--2005, including those AIDS cases for which HIV
and AIDS were diagnosed concurrently. The error did not affect data on reported cases of HIV or AIDS (i.e., the raw
data provided to CDC by health departments). The error did not affect data used to allocate funding for major
HIV/AIDS assistance and treatment programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Department
of Housing and Urban Development; only reported cases are used for allocation of resources administered via the Ryan
White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS.
The overestimate of AIDS cases was 2% for the period 2001--2005 and 8.3% for 2005. Because some AIDS cases
are diagnosed concurrently with HIV infection, a small overestimate of HIV/AIDS cases also occurred (0.4% for 2001--2005;
2% in 2005). The corrected estimates for 2005 are 40,608 estimated AIDS cases for the 50 states and the District
of Columbia and 37,331 estimated HIV/AIDS cases for the 33 states with longstanding HIV reporting.
Analyses and publications (e.g., fact sheets, slide sets, and web pages) produced using estimated AIDS data from the
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2005 have been corrected and reposted on the CDC website. The revised 2005 report
and additional information regarding the revised estimates are available at
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/datarevision.htm.
References
CDC. HIV/AIDS surveillance report, 2005. Vol. 17. Revised. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2007.
CDC. HIV/AIDS surveillance report, 2005. Vol. 17. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2006.
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Health and Human Services.
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