The CDC estimates that about 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the U.S. CDC: Young not getting HIV message

HIV hits hardest among young people.

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report finds more than half of people infected with HIV ages 13 to 24 don’t know they have it — and that same age group is responsible for more than a quarter of new U.S. infections each year.


And despite a shift in public health messaging to emphasize that early detection and treatment can help HIV-positive individuals stay healthy and reduce the spread of the virus, young Americans aren’t getting the message.

The CDC found that only about a third of those ages 17 to 24 had been tested for HIV in 2010, while just 13 percent of high school students were tested in 2011. That lack of testing is part of the reason those younger than 25 are less likely to seek treatment for HIV, which can also reduce the risk that they transmit it.

“Too few young people are getting tested for HIV,” CDC Director Thomas Frieden said on a conference call with reporters outlining the findings before World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

The CDC estimates about 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the United States and that about 50,000 people get the virus each year. One in four infections occur among those ages 13 to 24 — or about 1,000 per month.

The CDC noted that because the overall rate of HIV infection among African-Americans is high — almost eight times that of whites — young black people can be more likely to become infected and to transmit HIV. In 2010, about 57 percent of new infections occurred among blacks.

“Because of this disparity, black/African American youths are at higher risk for infection even with similar levels of risk behaviors,” the CDC report said.

Gay or bisexual males were far more likely to become infected: Sex between males was the cause of almost three-quarters of new HIV cases. Young gay or bisexual males were also found more likely to engage in risky behavior that could lead to infection, such as injecting illegal drugs or having unprotected sex.

“We have to give particular attention to the next generation, especially African-Americans and gay and bisexual men,” Frieden said. CDC said education and testing and prevention efforts targeted at high-risk populations are part of the solution to the problem of young people with HIV.

CDC drew on data from the National HIV Surveillance System for its report, as well as the 2009 and 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System and the 2010 National Health Interview Survey.

A separate study from the Kaiser Family Foundation released Tuesday found that young black Americans had high awareness about HIV.

The Kaiser poll found that almost half of young African-Americans ages 15 to 24 reported being personally “very concerned” about HIV andAIDS, while 32 percent of young Latinos and 17 percent of young whites said the same.

And Kaiser found about half of young African-Americans who are sexually active said they have been tested for HIV, as opposed to 25 percent of whites and 36 percent of Latinos.

But the Kaiser data also raised the question about whether the self-reporting of testing was accurate. Many of the youths said they thought they had had an HIV test as part of a routine doctor’s visit — but 24 percent said they had never talked about the test with a doctor and just assumed that one had been done. Only 21 percent said they had specifically sought testing.

And health care providers aren’t necessarily bringing up the topic of testing, even if the national guidelines recommend it. The Kaiser survey found that one in five young people who say they have had sex — and 13 percent of youth overall — says a health care provider has ever suggested they be tested for HIV. More sexually active young black people said their doctor suggested they be tested.

Many young people see themselves as not being at risk of HIV infection, even though they are sexually active, the survey found.

Kaiser conducted its survey from Sept. 21 to Oct. 1, 2012, among 1,437 people ages 15 to 24 in the U.S. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.