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An estimated 900,000 Americans are HIV-positive, but almost one in four don't even know it, according to health officials.
In an effort to cut those numbers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is calling on the public to get tested Friday as part of National HIV Testing Day.
To identify those who are HIV-positive, the CDC is advocating the use of a rapid HIV test, which the Food and Drug Administration approved last year. The procedure, which involves the pricking of a finger for a drop of blood, can deliver results in minutes.
"It's critical to know your HIV status," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC's director. "If you're infected, you can get treatment, and that is absolutely life-saving."
This test can provide answers in less than 30 minutes, while the patient is present. Many health officials abandoned a previous rapid test because they said it was difficult to use. Traditional lab tests took about a week, and patients didn't always come back to get the results.
In 2000, about 11,000 people who tested HIV-positive never returned to clinics to find out the results, according to a CDC estimate.
"It isn't just a question that those 11,000 people didn't come back for their test results," said Mick Ellis, with the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington. "It's a question of all of the people that they may have been sharing needles with or all of the people they may have been sexually active with."
Gerberding said she shares this concern about so many who are in the dark about their HIV status.
"I think it's really sad that 20 years into this epidemic we have so many people who don't know they're infected," she said. "They're not benefiting from the life-saving treatments, and they're not engaging in the types of prevention systems that will help protect their partners."
Health officials said the rapid HIV test is the first step in preventing new infections. Studies have shown that once people know they are infected, they generally take steps to keep from infecting others with HIV.
Global health officials estimate AIDS will kill 70 million people globally by 2020 unless a vaccine is found.
Writing this week in the journal Science, a group of scientists, educators and government and health officials recommended an international consortia that will drive a program dedicated to discovering a vaccine.
Content provided by ArmMed Media
Revision date: 12 December 2007
Last revised by Amalia K. Gagarina, M.S., R.D.
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