CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday announced a new surveillance system to better track HIV infections, scrapping an existing method that doesn't indicate how recently patients were infected. The new system no longer relies on AIDS case data submitted by state health departments--half of which don't report those cases because of privacy laws--but on anonymous data from 35 sites around the country to create a nationally representative snapshot of new infections, CDC researchers said. Federal health officials also will now use two antibody tests that indicate whether a patient had been infected in the last six months. With some HIV-positive people living for more than a decade without developing AIDS, the old tracking method did not reflect recent HIV infection trends. "The new system applies this technology and allows us to distinguish a new infection from an old infection," said Ronald Valdiserri, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention. "It gets at the question everyone wants answered, which is how many new cases of HIV are occurring." The new reporting system will provide statistics from areas that represent 93% of the country's HIV population, according to Robert Janssen, director of the CDC's HIV and AIDS Prevention division. To help collect the data, the CDC will send a total of $13 million to states participating in the program. CDC officials say the new set of antibody tests is about 95% accurate. "It relies on the fact human beings go through a fairly predictable process of antibody development" after infection by HIV, Valdiserri said. "Early on in the infection, you don't have too many antibodies to HIV. Over time, the longer you're infected, the more antibodies you're able to produce." By knowing where recent HIV infections are, health officials can shift resources to tackle the new cases. The government has been trying to cut new HIV cases--currently about 40,000 a year--in half.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Elon Musk’s comments about his trans daughter prove why she doesn’t speak to him
July 23 2024 9:16 AM
Nancy Pelosi endorses Kamala Harris for president
July 22 2024 4:07 PM
Charli XCX declares Kamala Harris IS brat & our next President's campaign agrees
July 22 2024 3:08 PM
Pete Buttigieg roasts JD Vance and his gay tech bro billionaire
July 22 2024 1:42 PM
The AIDs pandemic can be ended by 2030, but governments must act: report
July 22 2024 1:01 PM
Conservatives' first attack on Kamala Harris: Pronouns and accessibility?
July 22 2024 12:45 PM
Advancing equality during Disability Pride Month
July 22 2024 11:30 AM