Fighting HIV Through Early Detection

Noting that as many as half of all HIV transmissions occur within two to three months after a person is infected and that HIVers tend to take steps to protect others once they learn they carry the virus, health officials in San Francisco have launched an ambitious plan aimed at identifying those newly infected. Clients of the city's Magnet community health center who report high-risk sexual contacts will be given a highly sensitive DNA test that can detect HIV infection much earlier than standard HIV antibody screenings. Other testing centers around the city will soon follow suit, officials say. San Francisco currently records between 800 and 1,000 new HIV cases each year.