Almost 3 in 4 Americans with HIV don’t have their infection under control with medications, raising their risk of poor health and spreading the AIDS virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 20 percent of those who have HIV haven’t been tested and don’t know they have the virus, the Atlanta-based CDC said Tuesday in a statement. It’s possible to be infected for years without showing symptoms. Among those who are aware of their HIV infection, just 51 percent are getting medical care and treatment, the agency said in a report.

About 1.2 million Americans have HIV, according to the CDC. The virus, once a death sentence, can be reduced to low levels in the blood with use of combination antiviral medicines. Those drugs also lower the risk of spreading HIV, the report said.

“By improving testing, linkage to care and treatment services, we can help people living with HIV feel better and live longer, and can reduce the spread of HIV dramatically,” said Thomas Frieden, the director of the CDC.

Only 28 percent of those infected with HIV have the virus at low levels in their blood, which the CDC cites as “under control.”

Copyright Bloomberg News