By Sally Chew
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It’s difficult to keep a virus from spreading when you don’t know who has it. One of the main reasons HIV continues to be a problem, even in a developed country like the United States, is that 1 in every 4 HIV–positive Americans goes about life without having any idea he’s infected.
And these 250,000 or so undiagnosed people unknowingly cause another 20,000 new infections a year, according to the American College of Physicians (ACP).
That’s why the ACP issued a report on World AIDS Day, calling on U.S. doctors to test every single one of their patients over the age of 13. “Now there is enough evidence showing that routine HIV screening should be adopted,” says ACP member Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD. He says Americans should get used to checking their HIV status along with their cholesterol. Read More
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