FEDERAL DISEASE EXPERTS

One place where you can find authoritative information about the Epidemiology (or the transmission of risk) of AIDS and hepatitis is the center for disease control (CDC).  The center for disease control is one of the nations foremost authorities on communicable disease.  It plays the leading role in investigating and documenting the patterns and cause of AIDS and hepatitis. Head quartered in Atlanta, Georgia; the (CDC) maintains a large world-wide website www.cdc.gov on which it regularly publishes and permanently archives in-depth information about its findings.  It also makes its data available for free to newspapers, local libraries, public health agencies and any local government official or citizen.  Who requests it?  The (CDC) summary about tattooing and HIV is as brief as it is dramatic in it's HIV/AIDS surveillance report (CDC) has consistently noted that it has documented no case of HIV transmission through tattooing anywhere in the country since it began tracking such data in 1985.  By comparison there have been 7 cases of HIV transmission associated with dentists and dental workers.

No Case of AIDS transmission ever documented in a Canadian or American tattoo studio.  Statistics show lower hepatitis risk in tattoo shops than at your local dentist office.  The health risks associated with tattooing are often exaggerated when individuals or groups mount campaigns to prohibit the opening of another tattoo shop.  During the last 10 years, according to the US News and World report, tattooing has become one of North America's fastest growing categories of retail business.  There are now an estimated 25,000 tattoo studios in operation as the once "taboo" practice of body marking continues to gain broader acceptance and popularity throughout mainstream society.