D e c e m b e r 7, 2011
Tlorthinh OObserUrr
Page 11
Most HIV Infections Not Treated
Raising health risks and
transmission to others
(AP) — Nearly three quarters of the 1.2
million Americans with HIV do not have
their infection under control, raising the
risk of death from AIDS and transmission
to others, according to a new study re
leased for World AIDS Day on Wednes
day, Dec. 1.
One in five people with human immuno
deficiency virus are unaware that they have
the disease, added the report by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among people who know their HIV
status is positive, only about half (51
percent) get ongoing medical treatment,
said the CDC's Vital Signs report.
Of all people in the United States who
have HIV, whether they know it or not, 36
percent take antiretroviral therapy and 28
percent have a low amount of the virus in
their body.
Treatment with antiretroviral drugs has
been shown to suppress levels of the virus
in 77 percent of people who follow the
regimen, and studies have shown it can
ass
An AIDS symbol is displayed on the North Lawn o f the White House in Washing
ton, D.C. Nearly three quarters o f Americans with HIV do not have their infectior
under control, raising the risk o f death from AIDS and transmission to others,
according to a study released Tuesday.
cut the risk of transmission to a partner by
96 percent.
But while new cases of HIV have lev
eled off at about 50,000 in the United
States each year,
dying annually of
done to make sure
treated, authorities
with 16,000 people
AIDS, more must be
people get tested and
said.
"We are in a time of new hope for
stopping HIV, and this week's World
AIDS Day is a time to acknowledge that,"
CDC director Thomas Frieden said, urg
ing a new push by all levels of govern
ment.
"The bottom line is we have the tools to
stop HIV from spreading in the individual
patient and we have the tools to greatly
reduce its spread in communities," Frieden
said.
"First is to increase the proportion of
people who know their status. Knowl
edge is power," he told reporters.
"Second, to make sure that people with
HIV have every opportunity to remain in
ongoing care after they're diagnosed."
Black men who have sex with men are
a particularly high-risk group, with Afri
can-American gay males accounting for
27 percent of all new infections in the
United States, according to CDC data.
Also, more than a third of young black
homosexual men are infected with HIV,
more than twice the level seen in white
gay men. Surveys also suggest a full 60
percent of black gay men living with HIV
do not know they are HIV positive.
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