Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International; Sunday February 8 1:17 PM EST
In a study of 203 HIV-infected men and women, 40 percent of 129 who were sexually active did not tell their partners about their illness. Only 42 percent of those who neglected to divulge HIV status regularly used condoms, even though they knew they could transmit the fatal virus, the researchers found.
Shame, fear of rejection, violence and loss of income were some reasons for failing to tell, says Dr. Michael Stein from Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, R.I.
But some patients said they thought it was their partner's responsibility to avoid getting AIDS, the scientists found.
Stein, who led the research team, says this is "the underside of the good news" about AIDS treatment successes.
He says the research suggests thousands of people may, without knowing it, be putting themselves at risk of the deadly disease.
The study, appearing Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to look at women and drug users. Earlier studies focused on disclosure only among homosexual and bisexual men.
The study showed people with one partner were 3.2 times more likely to reveal HIV infection.
Nevertheless, 12 percent of those in committed relationships like marriage did not tell.
The research also showed blacks were three times more likely than whites or Latinos to keep their disease a secret, a finding Stein says he can not explain.
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