Statistics of Infectious Disease

The following statistics are the latest available from the National Center for Health Statistics (part of the CDC) and the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases:

• In 2009, the CDC estimates that 21,000 new cases of hepatitis A occurred in the U.S.

• In the U.S., it is estimated that 800,000 to 1.4 million people have chronic hepatitis B infections. In 2009, it was estimated that 38,000 new cases were diagnosed in the U.S.

• In the U.S., it is estimated that between 2.5 and 4 million people have chronic hepatitis C infections. In 2009, it was estimated that 16,000 new cases occurred in the U.S.

• Tuberculosis has infected one-third of the world's population. In 2009, nearly 11,000 new cases were reported in the U.S.

• About 53,000 people per year in the U.S. die from influenza and pneumonia.

• According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 50,000 new cases of HIV infections occur annually in the U.S., and there are nearly 33 million people living with HIV in the world.

• Before the chickenpox vaccine was introduced in 1995, there were about 4 million new cases of chickenpox annually. With vaccination, the frequency of new cases has decreased in all age groups, especially in children ages one to four years.

• Even though the measles vaccine is now available, in 2009 there were three new cases of German measles (rubella) and 71 cases of measles (rubeola) in the U.S.

• The numbers of new cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported in the U.S. in 2010 include:

  • Syphilis (primary and secondary): more than 11,000

  • Chlamydia: 1,307,893 

  • Gonorrhea:  301,174 

• Whooping cough affects from 5,000 to 7,000 people in the U.S. annually. In 2010, about 27,500 new cases were reported to the CDC, including 27 deaths nationally. The majority of these deaths were in children less than one year of age.