By Rick Howlett
Louisville, KY – Next Monday is National HIV Testing Day, and several Kentucky agencies are offering free HIV testing over the next week. The Centers for Disease Control now recommends an annual HIV test for everyone, regardless of risk factors. Kentucky HIV prevention coordinator Dennis Wheatley says its estimated that about one-fourth of people infected with HIV are unaware of it because they're not getting tested. For many who tested positive last year in Kentucky, it was too late to prevent the virus from progressing into full-blown AIDS.
"They ended up having an AIDS diagnoses within 30 days of having their initial diagnosis of HIV. That was almost 2,500 people there."
The free, rapid HIV testing being offered for the next week involve a simple mouth swab, although a follow-up blood test may be necessary.