Facts & Figures

HIV

• As of December 31, 2021, the number of people living with HIV who reside in North Carolina (including those initially diagnosed in another state) was 35,632.
• In 2021, 1,400 people were newly diagnosed with HIV among the adult and adolescent (over 13 years old) population, a rate of 15.7 per 100,000 population.
• The highest rate (72.9 per 100,000) of newly diagnosed HIV infections was among adult/adolescent Black/African American men.
• For adults and adolescents newly diagnosed with HIV in 2021, the most likely route of transmission was male-male sex (reported by 57.1%), followed by heterosexual sex (18.5%), and injection drug use (IDU) (2.6%); the most likely route of transmission was unknown for 18.3% of people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2021.
• The number of people newly categorized as having Stage 3 HIV (AIDS) in North Carolina has been stable for the past five years.
• There were no perinatal (mother-to-child) HIV transmissions documented in 2021.

STD

• The number of chlamydia cases diagnosed in North Carolina in 2021 was 65,107, a rate of 617 per 100,000 population.
• In 2021, Black/African American men and women had the highest chlamydia rates among race/ethnicity groups (864 and 1,352 per 100,000, respectively) and accounted for 39% of people diagnosed with chlamydia.
• The reported number of gonorrhea cases in 2021 was 29,177, a rate of 277 per 100,000 population, an increase from 28,075 cases in 2020 (rate of 269 per 100,000). Gonorrhea cases have been increasing in North Carolina for the past few years. In 2017, there were a total of 22,730 cases reported (221 per 100,000).
• In 2021, Black/African American men and women had the highest gonorrhea rates (824 and 569 per 100,000, respectively) and accounted for 53% of people diagnosed with gonorrhea.
• The number of early syphilis (primary, secondary, and early non-primary non-secondary) cases diagnosed in North Carolina in 2021 was 3,162, a rate of 30 per 100,000 population. This is an increase from previous years (2019: 2,135 cases and rate of 20 per 100,000; 2020: 2,363 cases and rate of 23 per 100,000).
• Black/African American men had the highest rates of early syphilis (144 per 100,000) and accounted for 48% of total early syphilis cases in 2021.

Hepatitis B and C

• There were 142 people diagnosed with acute hepatitis B in North Carolina in 2021 (rate of 1.3 cases per 100,000 population). This rate is higher than the national average rate of acute hepatitis B (0.7 cases per 100,000 population) reported in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/statistics/2020surveillance/hepatitis-b.htm).
• There were 100 people diagnosed with acute hepatitis C in North Carolina in 2021 (rate of 0.9 cases per 100,000 population). This rate is lower than the national average rate of acute hepatitis C (rate of 1.5 cases per 100,000 population) reported in the CDC’s 2020 surveillance report.
• The majority of acute hepatitis B cases were diagnosed among middle-aged persons ages 35- to 54-years-old (65%; 88 cases). Persons aged 25- to 39-years-old accounted for 60% of acute hepatitis C cases (60 cases) diagnosed in 2021.
• Non-Hispanic White men and women comprised 73% of people with acute hepatitis B (111 cases) and 79% of people with acute hepatitis C (78 cases) diagnosed in 2021.
• As of December 31, 2021, 27,312 people with chronic hepatitis B and 80,707 people with chronic hepatitis C were known to be living in North Carolina.