Half percentage of US have HIV

About half of one per cent of young adults in the US has HIV.

New figures from the National Center for Health Statistics have revealed that around 600,000 people aged between 18 and 49 and in the States have the HIV virus.

Only householders were polled for the survey. Prisoners, the homeless and those in institutions or hospital were not included in the study.

Gerry McQuillan, who led the study, told Reuters: "What we have done is taken data from our surveys in 1999 to 2006 because HIV has a very low prevalence. You have to combine all the years,"

"In 1999 to 2006, the prevalence of HIV infection among adults aged 18 to 49 years in the civilian noninstitutionalised household population of the United States was 0.47 per cent."

The report found that men were more likely to be infected (0.7 per cent) than women (0.2 per cent).

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