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How many people with HIV do not realize they are infected?
1.2 million people are living with HIV in the US. Nearly 1 in 5 people (about 240,000) don’t know they are infected. Getting an HIV test can lead to getting the medical care needed to stay healthy longer. People who don’t know they have HIV have a higher risk of serious medical problems and early death.
How long can a person live with HIV without knowing?
According to HIV.gov, latency in HIV infection can last for 10 or 15 years. This doesn’t mean that HIV is gone, nor does it mean that the virus can’t be transmitted to others. Clinically latent infection may progress to the third and final stage of HIV, also referred to as AIDS.
What happens if HIV is left untreated for 3 years?
However, the virus will still be active, infecting new cells and making copies of itself. HIV can still be passed on during this stage. If left untreated, over time, HIV infection will cause severe damage to the immune system. By the third stage of HIV infection a person’s immune system is severely damaged.
What happens in the third stage of HIV infection?
By the third stage of HIV infection a person’s immune system is severely damaged. At this point, they’re more likely to get serious infections, or bacterial and fungal diseases that the body would otherwise be able to fight off. These infections are referred to as ‘ opportunistic infections ’. serious illness or disease.
How common is it for people to not know they have HIV?
CDC estimates that 13 percent of people infected with HIV in the United States are unaware of their infection – more than 161,200 people. As many as 50,000 new HIV infections occur each year, and many of these are transmitted by people who do not know they are HIV-positive.
Is my new HIV diagnosis a new infection or older infection?
In conclusion, it is possible for doctors to determine if your new HIV diagnosis is the result of a new infection or an older infection. However, this information can not be determined by standard HIV testing. Determining whether a newly diagnosed infection is a new HIV infection is most often done by people working in HIV surveillance.