HIV Testing in the US

CDC Vital Signs offers recent data on the important health topics of key diseases, conditions, or risk factors. Data is gathered from CDC’s national monitoring systems to show progress in important areas of public health, and the ways people can increase their health, prevent or control disease.

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a serious infection that, without treatment, leads to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and early death. An estimated 1.1 million people are living with HIV in the US and as many as 1 in 5 don’t know they are infected. About 55% of adults aged 18-64 have never been tested for HIV. Even among people at higher risk for HIV infection, 28% have never been tested. CDC recommends routine HIV testing in health care settings.

More than 56,000 people in the US are newly infected with HIV each year — about one new person gets infected every 9½ minutes.

In 2009, 82.9 million people reported that they had ever been tested for HIV. This is 11.4 million more people since 2006, an average 3.8 million more people getting tested for the first time each year. Even so, more than half of Americans aged 18-64 have never been tested for HIV.

At least 1 in 3 Americans who test positive for HIV is tested too late to get the full advantage of treatment.

CDC VITAL SIGNS: HIV Testing

HIV Testing in the US

People need to get tested so they can get treated and not infect others.

Being tested will save their lives and the lives of other people.