AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) An HIV-infected person receives a diagnosis of AIDS after the development of an AIDS-defining condition or on the basis of the results of specific blood tests (i.e., CD4 lymphocyte count of less than 200, a CD4 percentage of total lymphocytes of lass than 14). A positive HIV test result does not mean that a person has AIDS.

AGE Age refers to age at diagnosis. Ages are combined into specific age ranges. Queries may be conducted on one or more age ranges. If all ages are selected, unknown ages are included.

COUNTY The county variable tells the person's county of residence at diagnosis. If the county of residence was not known, it is reported as "Unknown." Only Oklahoma residents are included in the datasets. Queries may be conducted on all counties or selected counties.

METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS (MSAs) The MSA variable tells the person's MSA of residence at diagnosis. MSA refers to geographical region with a high population density at its core and high degree of economic ties throughout the area.

REGION The region variable tells the person's region of residence at diagnosis.

Region	Counties
Central	Cleveland, Oklahoma
Northeast	Adair, Cherokee, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Kay, Lincoln, Mayes, Muskogee, Noble, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Payne, Rogers, Sequoyah, Wagoner, Washington
Northwest	Alfalfa, Beaver, Blaine, Canadian, Cimarron, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Grant, Harper, Kingfisher, Logan, Major, Roger Mills, Texas, Woods, Woodward
Southeast	Atoka, Bryan, Choctaw, Coal, Haskell, Hughes, Johnston, Latimer, LeFlore, Marshall, McCurtain, McIntosh, Murray, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Seminole
Southwest	Beckham, Caddo, Carter, Comanche, Cotton, Garvin, Grady, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Jefferson, Kiowa, Love, McClain, Stephens, Tillman, Washita
Tulsa	Tulsa

HIV Diagnosis Persons diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection in a given time period, including those diagnosed with AIDS during the same time period. Note that the number of persons diagnosed with HIV in a given time period differs from the number of persons infected with HIV in a given time period (i.e., HIV incidence). HIV is the virus which causes AIDS. HIV is a virus that kills the body’s CD4 cells. CD4 cells help a body fight off infection and disease.

Mode of Transmission The term for summarizing multiple behaviors or situations by selecting the one most likely to have resulted in HIV transmission according to a hierarchy created by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For surveillance purposes, persons with more than one reported transmission category are classified in the mode of transmission listed first in the hierarchy and therefore counted only once, except for men who report both sexual contact with other men and injection drug use; this group makes up a separate transmission category (MSM/IDU).

Following is a description of the transmission categories in the hierarchical order:

• Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): Also known as Male-to-Male Sex. Persons assigned male sex at birth, regardless of current gender identity, who have reported sexual contact with other males; and persons assigned male sex at birth who have reported sexual contact with both males and females (i.e., bisexual contact).

• Injection Drug Use (IDU): Persons who report injection nonprescription drug or who injection prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes, who may also report heterosexual contact.

• MSM & IDU: Persons assigned male sex at birth, regardless of current gender identity, who have had sexual contact with other males (or with both males and females [i.e., bisexual contact]) and reported injection nonprescription drugs or injection prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes.

• Heterosexual Contact: Persons who have reported heterosexual contact with a person known to have HIV, or with a person known to be at high risk for HIV infection (i.e., a person who injects drugs or a male who has had sexual contact with other males).

• Perinatal: Infection before the age of 13 where the child was exposed through mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, childbirth, or breast-feeding or through blood transfusions.

• No Identified Risk (NIR) or No Reported Risk (NRR): Cases in which epidemiologic follow-up has been conducted and no mode of exposure has been identified or reported. This includes reported heterosexual contact with a person with unknown HIV status or unknown on whether person was at high risk for HIV infection. Any case that continues to have no reported risk for 12 or more months after the report date is considered NRR.

RACE/ETHNICITY A sociological designation, identifying a class sharing some outward physical characteristics and some commonalities of culture and history. For HIV reports, race is categorized as White—Non Hispanic, Black—Non Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native—Non Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander—Non Hispanic, Multi Race (Two or More Races)—Non Hispanic, or Hispanic—All Races. All persons with Hispanic ethnicity, regardless of race, are categorized as Hispanic (i.e., If a person is reported as Black and Hispanic, they are analyzed as Hispanic).

SEX AT BIRTH A person’s assigned sex at birth. Queries may be conducted on males only, females only, or both sexes combined.

YEAR The year variable tells the year the person was diagnosed with the disease of interest. Information may be queried on individual years or on a combination of years.

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