Editorial

This week, the Centers for Disease Control announced that it has been underreporting new HIV/AIDS infection rates for several years and, because of better reporting models, can now assert that infection rates have been “roughly stable overall since the 1990s.”

This week too, PGN is publishing a story detailing the personal accounts of three people who received false-negative test results for HIV. The individuals thought they were doing everything right — getting regular rapid HIV tests and having protected sex.

Many people have heard of false-positives, and how devastating it can be to learn that you are HIV-positive and start rigorous drug therapies, only to learn that you weren’t sick in the first place.

But according to published research, getting a false-negative result is more common than getting a false-positive — though in truth, neither happens that frequently. While a false-positive can be devastating for an individual, a false-negative has, potentially, a broader public-health impact.

Those who are HIV-positive and receive a false-negative test result are likely to continue their sexual behavior as is, whether it be safe or unsafe. If they are not practicing safe sex because they (incorrectly) believe themselves to be clear, they have a greater chance of spreading the disease unknowingly.

Unfortunately, the LGBT community — and mainstream society — has been lulled into complacency on several levels with regard to HIV/AIDS. First is the misconception that HIV/AIDS isn’t such a big deal — that because of the drug therapies, it’s a “manageable” disease. Second is that only getting rapid testing is good enough. In reality, rapid testing is usually good enough — but since the tests are not 100-percent accurate either way, those who engage in unprotected sex, have more partners or use drugs need to be more vigilant, from both a personal-health standpoint and a public-health outlook.

One of the major problems of false-negatives is the detriment it can have on one’s health — and how expensive AIDS can be to treat at a later stage.
To return to the CDC announcement, these stories illustrate how difficult it is to fight this disease, and how public-health efforts have not made inroads on infection rates for the last decade.

Both as a community and as a society, we need to be more vigilant.