Infectious Disease

Infectious Disease includes the occurrence of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis and hepatitis (all types) as representative of all major infectious diseases in a state. It is a running three-year average.

This component is not age- or race-adjusted. Also, the individual state health departments report these diseases, and the level of accuracy may differ from state to state.

Table 24 displays the 2004 ranks, based on 2001 to 2003 data (Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Reports, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The rate of infectious disease per 100,000 population varies from a reported low of less than five cases in North Dakota and South Dakota to a reported high of more than 50 cases in New York. The national average is 26.1 cases per 100,000 population, down slightly from 27.0 cases per 100,000 population from the 2003 Edition and down considerably from 40.7 cases per 100,000 population from the 1990 Edition.

Reported infectious disease decreased by 5.0 or more cases per 100,000 population in New Jersey and Mississippi. It increased by 5.3 cases per 100,000 population in Georgia. Since the 1990 Edition, Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Arizona have seen the greatest decreases in reported cases with more than 50 fewer cases per 100,000 population, while only Pennsylvania, Maryland and Georgia have experienced increases in the incidence of infectious disease.

¹ Source: 2001-2003 data, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention