Report: HIV Cases Increased Slightly Last Year in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Health officials say Minnesota reported more than 300 new HIV cases last year, bringing the number of residents living with the virus that causes AIDS to nearly 8,000.

The annual state Health Department report released Thursday shows that HIV diagnoses rose 2 percent last year compared to 2013. It says the number of new HIV cases among females however has increased by 7 percent.

More than 85 percent of the new HIV cases are concentrated in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The report finds the number of new HIV cases attributed to injection drug use remains low in the state.

A total of 10,718 HIV/AIDS cases have been reported in Minnesota since the agency began tracking AIDS in 1982 and HIV in 1985.