BARCELONA, Spain, July 8 (UPI) -- Most young gay men in the United States are unaware they are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, government researchers said Monday.
"Clearly, unrecognized infection with human immunodeficiency virus is a problem in men who have sex with men," said Duncan MacKeller, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.
"A substantial number of young gay and bisexual men of all races have HIV, do not know they are infected, do not think they are at risk, are not getting tested and may be unknowingly transmitting the virus to their partners," he said.
In a presentation at the 14th International AIDS Conference, MacKeller reported:
-- Of 5,719 young gay men tested in several American cities -- Baltimore, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle -- 573 or about 10 percent of them tested positive for HIV.
"That is a high percentage of infected individuals," MacKeller told United Press International, "but what is more alarming is that most of those young men -- aged 15 to 29 -- aren't aware of their status."
-- Of those 573 infected individuals, 440 men or 77 percent were unaware they were infected.
-- Broken down by ethnic group, 91 percent of gay or bisexual African-American men were unaware if they were infected, 70 percent of gay or bisexual Latinos were unaware of their HIV status and 60 percent of gay or bisexual whites did not know whether they had the disease.
MacKeller said 73 percent of the men surveyed had undergone HIV testing, but 55 percent either never had a test or had not been tested in more than a year. He said if a previous test had rendered an HIV-negative showing, the men may have perceived they were free of getting the disease.
"What we wonder is what is happening at the encounter these people had at the testing clinic and what their counselors told them," MacKeller said. "We have got to make sure that these counselors are on the top of their game when they talk to people who have a negative test."
However, Phill Wilson, executive director of the African American AIDS Policy and Training Institute in Los Angeles, suggested the problem occurred long before the men went for their HIV test.
"The real failure is that these folks are not in the health care system at all," he said. The problem goes beyond HIV infection and encompasses a failure to understand risks of heart disease, cancer and other infections, he said, adding that he knows people with advanced stages of syphilis who have assumed they were not infected because they have been in steady relationships for years and had not sought treatment.
Dr. Ron Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, said, "As we work to renew HIV prevention among gay men and others at high risk, the knowledge gained through these studies is critical to forging solutions that address the current realities of gay and bisexual men's lives."
MacKeller added, "We have got to reduce the number of gay and bisexual men who are not aware of their HIV status."
