CDC: 240,000 Americans have HIV and don't know it

When will we get it. I don't know how people can still have unprotected sex in this day and age. People know what the possibilities are and continue to act irresponsible. The disease is preventable if safe sex is practiced. It is also treatable if caught in time and the regiment is followed. This study saddens me because we are smarter than this.

Once a death sentence, AIDS can now be managed so effectively that people with the disease can live almost as long as those without it - but that's true only for those who get good medical care.

Unfortunately only one in four Americans with AIDS has the virus under control, according to a new CDC report.

"The big picture is we could do a lot better than we're doing today," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, the CDC's director.

Why is the treatment success rate so low? Partly because, of the 1.2 million Americans who have HIV - the infection that causes AIDS - 20 percent don't know they're infected. That's 240,000 people. People can have the infection for years without developing symptoms.

Another reason for the low success rate, only about 40 percent of people with HIV are getting HIV-fighting medications regularly. Worse, only 28 percent have gotten the virus to low levels in their blood. That translates to roughly 850,000 Americans who don't have the virus controlled, Frieden said.

Success rates were lowest in blacks and women, he said.

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