San Diego marked World Aids Day on Monday with a public viewing of portions of the AIDS Memorial Quilt along with other events.
San Diego County's latest report shows from the beginning of the epidemic in 1981 through 2011 that 14,805 people in the county were diagnosed with AIDS. From April 17, 2006, through 2011, the county recorded 4,910 cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Health officials say about one in five people with HIV don’t know their status.
That needs to change, said Jimmy Ramey with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
“People who know their status generally get into treatment," Ramey said. "People who don’t know their status or don’t want to know their status unfortunately are the individuals who are actually spreading the disease.”
Men who have sex with men account for the majority of new HIV infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
