Nearly one in five gay and bisexual men are infected with HIV, and nearly half of them do not know it

Young men, and especially young black men, are least likely to know if they are infected with HIV, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers at the CDC studied 8,153 men who have sex with men in 21 U.S. cities. The men were taking part in the 2008 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, which looked at prevalence and awareness of the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Overall, they found that 19% of gay men are infected with HIV. The study found that 28% of gay black men were infected with HIV, compared with 18% of Hispanic men and 16% of white men. Black men in the study were also least likely to be aware of their infection, with 59% unaware of their infection compared with 46% of Hispanic men and 26% of white men.