Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Tests for H.I.V. Reach a Record




The number of American adults tested for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, reached a record high in 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Nonetheless, about 55 percent of all adults — and about 28 percent of all people who are at higher risk for getting infected — have still never been tested.

Starting in 2006, the disease centers began urging doctors to order H.I.V. tests as part of routine blood work for all patients. Success has been modest; the percentage of all adults who have ever had a test rose only to 45 percent after years of holding steady at 40 percent.

Almost one-third of people who learn they are infected find out only when they fall seriously ill, the disease centers said, meaning they have presumably infected others during that time and have also missed the opportunity to get treatment.

Read More

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/health/02aids.html

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