Definitions

• AIDS: This refers to persons diagnosed with AIDS, based on the CDC definition in adults and adolescents and children.
• HIV/AIDS: This refers to cases of HIV infection, regardless whether they have progressed to AIDS from the 37 areas (33 states and 4 U.S. dependent areas) that have had confidential name-based HIV infection reporting long enough to monitor trends. These 33 states represent approximately 63% of the epidemic in the United States.
• Dependent Areas: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• 33 States and 4 Dependent Areas with Confidential Name-Based HIV Infection Reporting: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Learn more about HIV infection reporting.
• Transmission Category: The classification of a case that summarizes the risk factor most likely to have been responsible for transmission. Cases are counted only once in a hierarchy of transmission categories. Persons with more than 1 reported risk factor for HIV infection are classified in the transmission category listed first in the hierarchy. The exception is men who report sexual contact with other men and injection drug use; this group makes up a separate transmission category.

For more definitions and details regarding HIV and AIDS data is tabulated, read the “Technical Notes” from the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report: HIV Infection and AIDS in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2005.