DC Is Also the HIV/AIDS Capital of the United States

This report on 365gay.com tells us that Washington, DC has the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate of any city in the United States. Worth noting, however, is that the increases are coming more from heterosexual people and the age group of 40-49 years old, working against most sterotypes people use when they even consider HIV/AIDS at all:

A new report by District of Columbia health officials paints a bleak
picture of Washington's efforts to curb the rising rate of HIV/AIDS, showing
that the district has the highest infection rate of any city in the country.

Almost one in every fifty people in Washington is living with HIV/AIDS - a
total of 12,400 people.

The report found that at the end of 2006 there were 8,368 reported cases of
HIV/AIDS, a 43 percent increase from 2001.

African Americans make up 57 percent of the district's population but
accounted for 81 percent of the new cases of HIV and total nearly 86 percent of
PWAs in the city.

The report also said that the virus is spreading more quickly among
heterosexuals than gay men.

Between 2001 and 2006 37 percent of the new cases of HIV were among
heterosexuals while men who have sex with men accounted for 25
percent.

The new cases also are growing among mature men and women. The change began
showing up in 2004 and since then the number of new HIV cases in people between
40 and 49 has outpaced every other age group.

"HIV/AIDS in the district has become a modern epidemic with complexities
and challenges that continue to threaten the lives and well-being of far too
many residents," the report said.

Unprotected sex was the most common way HIV. is spread, followed by
intravenous drug use.