CDC: More than 1 in 8 Americans infected with HIV don’t know it

More than 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV — including about 156,300 who don’t know it, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That means 13 percent of those who are infected with the virus that causes AIDS aren’t in a position to protect their health, or the health of others.

The White House has set a goal of making sure at least 90 percent of people infected with HIV are aware of their status. As of 2012, only Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and New York had met that goal, researchers reported Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Nationwide, about 87 percent of Americans with HIV know they are infected, according to the report. That figure is based on data from the 41 states (plus the District of Columbia) where at least 60 people were diagnosed with HIV each year between 2008 and 2012, on average.

The state with the lowest rate of HIV-infection awareness was Louisiana, where only 77 percent of those with the virus knew that they had it.

It stands to reason that people who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus would benefit from knowing it. A clinical trial recently showed that starting antiretroviral treatment right away instead of waiting for the immune system to deteriorate can reduce the risk of death or serious illness by 53 percent.

Knowing one’s HIV status is also good for the public at large, since people who have HIV but don’t realize it are in a prime position to spread it to others.