CDC: Majority of Americans with HIV Don't Have It Under Control - East Idaho News

CDC: Majority of Americans with HIV Don’t Have It Under Control

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CDC 62014 HeadquartersBldg?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1417001158140 Credit: James Gathany/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(NEW YORK) — Most of the 1.2 million Americans infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, did not have the disease under control in 2011, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC says that about 70 percent of those with HIV had not achieved viral suppression. What’s more, just 13 percent of Americans ages 18 to 24 had it under control.

According to the government, it’s not so much ignorance that prevents people from getting the drug therapies necessary to combat the virus but lack of access to medical care and an apparent indifference to the disease, which can become full-blown AIDS if left untreated,

CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said Tuesday that besides people with HIV needing to seek treatment, it’s also up to health care systems that diagnose patients to make sure that they get the medications and follow-up treatment if for no other reason but to prevent patients from passing on the infection to others.

The CDC says that antiretroviral medication allows people to live longer by keeping HIV at very low levels, provided it’s used consistently. This treatment also cuts the transmission of HIV to others by 96 percent.


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