Good news: HIV infection rate has fallen dramatically in U.S.
Source: Associated Press
By Bil Browning · Wednesday, February 15, 2017
NEW YORK (AP) New calculations to better track HIV infections confirm that the U.S. is seeing a strong and steady decline.
The number of new cases has been falling for years. But health officials wanted a clearer picture of how the epidemic was behaving. They count people when they were diagnosed with the AIDS virus not when they actually contracted it, which can be months or years earlier.
Counting infections instead of diagnoses is a more ideal gauge a kind of speedometer that tells how fast the epidemic is actually moving, said David Holtgrave, an HIV researcher at Johns Hopkins University.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used blood test results to help date the infections. Their calculations showed new infections dropped by nearly 18 percent over six years, the CDC reported Tuesday. Though health experts expected a decline, they welcomed the confirmation.
Read more: http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/02/good-news-hiv-infection-rate-fallen-dramatically-u-s/
Javaman
(62,534 posts)then goes on to babble about building a wall around the HIV disease.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,344 posts)Several of my single friends are taking it.
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)Hassin Bin Sober
(26,344 posts)Response to Hassin Bin Sober (Reply #2)
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Bernardo de La Paz
(49,045 posts)More uninsured getting health care means fewer people not knowing they are infected and passing it.
It means greater health awareness and so less needle sharing, for example.
Does any anyone know if people under treatment for HIV are less infectious? I think they would be.
Aristus
(66,467 posts)as to be undetectable. This lowers the risk of passing on the infection. But one should still take all proper precautions. There is still no cure for AIDS.
IronLionZion
(45,540 posts)it's a matter of life or death for many low income people living with the virus and have trouble finding jobs with health insurance.
Also the free screenings help people find out about it. Knowing that they have it goes a long way towards not spreading it. Also a part of treatment are stern lectures from their doctor and education about safe practices to avoid spreading it.