In 2006, the Federal Government strongly advised that all patients who visit emergency rooms and doctor’s offices be tested for HIV. This week in Arlington, a large number of studies were presented, and they all showed that the advice is being almost ignored. According to the same studies, it seems that only 5% of patients are being routinely tested for HIV, and these patients are the ones who show signs of serious illnesses.

Despite the notoriety of the virus and the deadly disease it causes, HIV is being “underdiagnosed” and “undertreated” in the United States, according to doctors who attended the two-day HIV Testing Summit.

HIV is lentivirus, which is a member of the retrovirus family. The virus can lead to the well-known acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. AIDS affects the immune system, basically destroying it, which leaves the body prone to a number of other infections and diseases, and it is ultimately fatal. HIV can be transmitted in a number of ways, namely by transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculation fluid or breast milk. It is obvious that a person with HIV who isn’t diagnosed is a potential threat to others.

Testing for HIV implies a saliva and blood test, which costs a patient between $80 and $120. Some patients are admitted to the emergency room in a severe state, and their CD4 cell count is below 200, a sign that the person has AIDS. Given that the recommendation was issued in 2006, the people who are now suffering from AIDS passed the chance to get diagnosed with HIV during their visits to hospital and thus missed the chance to prolong their lives, as living with HIV in manageable these days.