Diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States and dependent areas 2020

ABSTRACT

This report includes HIV surveillance data through 2020 and reported to CDC's National HIV Surveillance System (NHSS) through 31 December 2021. This report highlights the total number of HIV diagnoses in the United States which shows that 2020 (30,403) was 17% lower than in 2019 (36,585). Disruptions in clinical care services, patient hesitancy in accessing clinical services, and HIV testing reagent/material shortages likely caused the steep 2020 decline in diagnoses, raising concerns about underdiagnosis. State/local health departments developed innovative HIV-related testing (self-tests) and care services (telehealth) during the COVID-19 pandemic, but these strategies did not make up for laboratory reporting declines because self-test results are not routinely reported to health departments or CDC. Telehealth sessions may not have ordered laboratory tests amid strict social separation, or patients may have been reluctant to finish testing.