Most young HIV-infected gays in U.S. don't know they have disease, researchers

BARCELONA, SPAIN - A study conducted by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more than three-quarters of HIV-infected young gay and bisexual men in major U.S. cities do not know they have the virus that causes AIDS. <br> <br> The findings were presented Monday during the first day of scientific sessions at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Spain. Officials at the C.D.C. say it&#39;s a sign the epidemic could be in danger of accelerating again in the United States. <br> <br> This study shows that the problem of people with the virus not knowing they have it is much worse than previously thought. <br> <br> Researchers surveyed more than 5,700 men aged 15 to 29 at dance clubs, bars, health clubs and street locations in Baltimore, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Seattle from 1994 to 2000. <br> <br> Duncan MacKellar of the C.D.C. led the study. He says of the 573 who tested H.I.V. positive, 440 of them - or 77 percent - said they did not know they were infected with the virus. Around half were having anal sex without condoms, and half had not been tested in the past year, he said. <br> <br> Among black H.I.V. positive men, 91 percent did not know they were infected, MacKellar said, and 70 percent of the Hispanic H.I.V. positive men were unaware of their status. <br> <br> The study showed that black men were the most likely to be infected and the least likely to know that they had the virus.

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