U.S. health officials say many young gay and bisexual men who are HIV-positive are unaware they have the virus.
A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, of more than 5,600 men between the ages of 15 and 29 found that more than three-quarters of those who tested positive for HIV were unaware they were infected and, of more concern, the majority of these men had considered themselves at low risk of having the AIDS virus, half had had unprotected sex with another man during the previous 6 months.
The implication of these results is that the HIV epidemic among young gay and bisexual men which "continues unabated," could be partly explained because many are ignorant of their infection.
Duncan A. MacKellar and his colleagues in their report found that the high rate of unrecognized HIV infection can in part be blamed on the low rate of regular testing for the virus, and even though many men in the study had undergone HIV testing in the past, few had regular tests done.
Even though experts recommend people at high risk of HIV be tested for the virus and other sexually transmitted diseases at least once a year. Only a minority of those who were unaware they were HIV-positive had been tested in the past year.
MacKellar says limited access to healthcare and the fear of testing positive, may be contributing factors.
Gay and bisexual men were recruited for the study from various venues, including bars, parks, cafes and stores, in 6 U.S. cities. The men were surveyed about their sexual behaviour, their perceptions of their own HIV risk and how many times they had been tested for the virus. They also gave blood samples for testing. Ten percent of the group were found to be HIV-positive, and 77 percent of those had been unaware they were infected.