Testing’s Role in Preventing HIV Infection

About 1.2 million people in the United States are HIV-positive. One in five of those don’t know they’re infected, a major contributing factor to the 50,000 or so new HIV infections a year. Testing is the first step to engaging HIV-positive patients in care, stopping individual disease progression, and stemming the spread of HIV. In concordance with the CDC’s recommendations, NCCC consultants advise that providers test all patients between 13 and 64 years old, regardless of risk profile, at least once in their lifetime, and preferably on an annual basis as part of routine health screening.

See our PrEP Resources page for information on the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a prevention tool.