Private MD News

CDC continues to recommend HIV testing

Category: HIV

Despite the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that HIV testing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the infection, the agency recently concluded a study which found that many people with the infection are unaware of their condition.

The CDC recently ran a program in which it administered HIV tests to nearly 3 million people from across the country. The screening identified more than 18,000 participants who were infected. Based on the data gathered from this study, the agency estimated that about 240,000 of the 1.2 million people living with HIV are unaware of their infection.

"Ensuring that all Americans know their HIV status is critical to reducing new infections and putting an end to the epidemic," said Kevin Fenton, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention at the CDC. "More than half of U.S. adults aged 18-64 still have never been tested for HIV, and our work is far from over."

CDC officials are continuing to recommend HIV testing to all sexually active individuals. Aside from being more difficult to treat when it is diagnosed late, individuals who do not know they are infected may be spreading the disease to others.