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The path from HIV diagnosis to successful control of the infection requires linkage to medical care. It makes sense to assume that the more promptly people get medical care after diagnosis, the sooner they will be effectively treated — hence the goal set by various monitoring organizations of no more than 3 months from diagnosis to care entry.
To confirm this assumption, researchers analyzed laboratory data reported from 19 jurisdictions around the U.S. on more than 17,000 teenagers and adults with HIV infection diagnosed during 2009. About 50% were black, 78% were male, and nearly 30% had AIDS on the basis of CD4 counts <200 cells/mm3 or opportunistic illness.
The overall median time from diagnosis to viral suppression was 19 months. This ti…