A Discouraging Record Breaker

A new, unfortunate milestone in the domestic AIDS pandemic has been reached, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The nation, for the first time, has more than 1.1 million HIV-positive citizens. And about 20% of those HIVers -- roughly 233,000 Americans -- are unaware they're infected, says the federal agency. Reporting in the publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC says the record-high number is due to the fact that HIV is now a manageable chronic disease for many. But the downside to longer lifespans for HIVers is more opportunities to expose others to the virus if safer sex and other harm-reduction steps aren't practiced, the agency says.