Although HIV doesn’t dominate headlines like it did 20 years ago, the virus still rages out of control in most patients it infects. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, most HIV-afflicted patients don’t take the drugs they need to manage their conditions. Scarier still, as many as 20 percent of those with HIV don’t know they’re infected.

According to CNN, the CDC study says only 28 percent of HIV patients use the necessary drug cocktail. Treatment is cost-prohibitive for many, reaching $367,000 over a patient’s life.

To help more patients seek treatment, the CDC is targeting high-risk groups with an information campaign to encourage testing. Thanks to advancements in treatments, learning you’re HIV-positive is no longer the death sentence it once was. Still, the fear of confronting the possibility of infection is enough for too many people to put the health of themselves and others at risk by avoiding tests.

HIV out of control in most U.S. patients [CNN]

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