World AIDS Day :: Fewer than half of Americans have had HIV test

Fewer than half of Americans have had an AIDS test since guidelines were expanded to include routine screening, according to a government report released Tuesday.

Last year, an estimated 45 percent of Americans ages 18 to 64 reported they’ve had an HIV test at least once in their lives, up from 40 percent in 2006. That’s an increase of 11 million people to 83 million people who have ever been screened, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in Atlanta.

The CDC estimates that about 1.1 million Americans have HIV, but about 20 percent don’t know it. About 56,000 new infections occur each year in the U.S.