There is an editorial, by M. Goicoechea and D.M. Smith, appearing in the most recent Clinical Infectious Diseases & commenting on the Keruly & Moore article (summarized in today’s Kaiser Daily AIDS report) on some people diagnosed with HIV presenting later for treatment.
Excerpted from the editorial:
“HIV disease is a disease of poverty. In the United States, HIV infection disproportionately affects uninsured, low-income persons, who constitute a vulnerable population that often has multiple health care needs…[F]indings suggest that ‘universal’ HIV testing also requires ‘universal’ health care for there to be a significant impact on diagnosing HIV infection at the earliest stage possible. … it is a shameful commentary on our own health care system that the average CD4 Tcell count before initiation of antiretroviral therapy in North America is similar to that of some underdeveloped countries in
The editorial is here.
Universal testing can determine who are the people that get exposed and do not get infected. We can learn from the people who get exposed and do not get infected and help prevent new infections and can help people infected already. We do this for every disease except this one. It has been made political. It's just a disease. We should treat it with the protocols we have used to cure the other epidemics.
ReplyDeleteWe don't know the rate of new infections. What's happening with the epidemic can't be determined without the rate of new infections. We need universal testing of the general population to calculate the rate of new infections.