DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa public health officials say the number of new HIV diagnoses fell dramatically last year, but it's too soon to tell if the drop represents a sustained trend.
The Iowa Department of Public Health announced Monday that new HIV diagnoses decreased 19 percent from 2013 to 2014. The 99 new diagnoses in 2014 were the fewest since 88 were diagnosed in 2003.
HIV Surveillance Coordinator Jerry Harms says the department will need more data to determine if the drop is the start of a long downward trend but that the 2014 numbers were promising.
At the end of 2014, there were 2,369 HIV-infected people living in Iowa.
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