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Seniors & HIV
National HIV Testing Day June
27
There are more than 1 million people
in the United States living with HIV. One-fourth of them
do not know that they are HIV-infected. The only way to
know if you have HIV is to get tested.
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, and
it is affecting older Americans.
In 2005, people over the age of 50
accounted for:
15% of new HIV/AIDS
diagnoses;
24% of people living with HIV/AIDS; and
35% of all deaths of people with AIDS
Many people mistakenly assume that
older Americans are not sexually active and therefore
not at risk for HIV infection. This is not the case. A
2007 national survey of Americans ages 57 to 85 found
that the majority of older Americans are sexually
active. This is particularly true for healthy older
Americans.
However, older Americans do not always
realize that they may be at risk for HIV infection. Many
came of age in the decades before AIDS and did not
receive the information about HIV prevention that
younger generations did. Others were married or in
long-term relationships for many years and tuned out
information about HIV. Now, after being widowed or
divorced, they are entering intimate relationships again
for the first time in decades. Compared with those who
are younger, they may be less knowledgeable about
HIV/AIDS and therefore less likely to protect
themselves.
While older Americans need information
about HIV prevention, most do not talk to their doctors
about their sex lives. Only about a third of older men
and just a fifth of older women surveyed had discussed
sex with a doctor since age 50. Doctors, too, may
underestimate their older patients' risk for HIV/AIDS
and thus may miss opportunities to discuss HIV
prevention or offer HIV testing.
Older people also may mistake the
early symptoms of AIDS for the aches and pains of normal
aging and neglect to get tested for HIV, or they may
feel ashamed or afraid of being tested.
Know Your Status. Get Tested
for HIV.
The HIV test detects whether or not
you have been exposed to the HIV virus. There are
several different kinds of tests: blood tests, urine
tests, and an oral (mouth) test. Only a very small
amount of blood is needed for the blood tests.
HIV tests can take a few days to 2 weeks for results, or
with rapid HIV tests you can get results in 20 to 30
minutes.
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