Update: Trends in AIDS Incidence—United States, 1996

PROVISIONAL surveillance data about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) for the first 6 months of 1996 indicated a decrease in deaths among persons with AIDS, attributed primarily to the effect of antiretroviral therapies on the survival of persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).¹This report describes a decline in AIDS incidence during 1996 compared with 1995 and the continued decline in AIDS deaths; the findings indicate that HIV therapies are having a widespread beneficial impact on the rate of HIV disease progression in the United States.* Cumulative AIDS cases among persons aged ≥13 years reported to CDC through June 1997 from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories were analyzed by sex, age, race/ethnicity, and mode of risk/exposure. †²Estimates of AIDS incidence and deaths were adjusted for delays in reporting. For analyses by risk/exposure, estimates were