HIV and AIDS: More facts on research.

With Charlie Sheen reportedly about to announce that he has HIV, many people are asking about human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS. Here is some current information about the treatable, but still incurable, condition:

 

-- More than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV — and 12.8% of them are unaware of their infection.

-- New cases of HIV has remained stable at about 50,000 new infections per year.

-- Roughly 1.2 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS. In 2012, 13,712 people with AIDS died.

-- Men sleeping with men are about 4% of the male population in the United States yet accounted for roughly 63% of all new HIV infections in 2010. In the same year, blacks (12% of the population) accounted for 44% of new infections.

-- HIV is treated using a combination of medicines in a treatment called antiretroviral therapy. Such medicines prevent HIV from multiplying and allows the immune system to recover.

-- The cost of treating HIV is estimated at $379,668 over the course of a lifetime. The government says that 30% of HIV patients are uninsured.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and AIDS.gov