Private MD News

Officials: Too many people unaware they are HIV-infected

Category: HIV

In the wake of National HIV Testing Day, officials at the Center for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health urged people to get tested, pointing to recent studies that show too many people are unaware they are infected with the virus.

A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that 48 percent of HIV-positive adolescents and young adults are unaware they are infected. In addition, only 22 percent of sexually active high school adolescents ever get testing for the virus.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said that an estimated one-fifth of all Americans infected with HIV do not know they are infected. One-third of those who learn they are HIV positive from a test find out less than a year before being diagnosed with AIDS, which is well past the best time to begin antiretroviral therapy.

"Not knowing one's HIV status endangers one's health and the health of one's sexual partners," said Anthony S. Fauci, director of the NIAID. "By getting tested for the virus and learning one's HIV status soon after infection, treatment can begin early, substantially delaying the development of HIV-related illness and prolonging life."