Majority of Philadelphia residents who test positive for HIV have full blown AIDS |

From the Washington Blade online… Philly map

PHILADELPHIA — A majority of Philadelphia residents who test positive for HIV already have full blown AIDS by the time they’re diagnosed, a Centers for Disease Control study found (reported by a Philadelphia CBS news affiliate).

The numbers are from the CDC’s HIV Surveillance Report, which comes out every three years, CBS said. The latest statistics are from 2011 and find Philadelphia ranked 24^th among metro areas in terms of new diagnoses with about 12,000 people living with AIDS in the city. An ActionAIDS official told CBS about 75 percent of the new cases diagnosed were at “stage three” for AIDS.

“It means they have full blown AIDS when they find out they’re sick, which is way too late in terms of the disease progression,” Kevin Burns, executive director of ActionAIDS told CBS. Early testing is the key to keeping patients healthy, Burns and other health experts said.