How to find the 21 percent?

The CDC estimates that 21 percent of Americans infected with HIV don’t know it.

So the obvious question is how to find them.

Since 53 percent of those newly infected in the United States are males having sex with men (MSM), one AIDS expert asked at a summit side session, shouldn’t groups mostly target the MSM community?

Well, that's not so simple, said one panelist.

In South Carolina, said Dr. Wayne Duffus, an AIDS doctor, not too many men will identify themselves as MSMs.

``In the South, working in a STD clinic, 120 percent of the people are heterosexual,’’ he said, prompting laughter in the audience. ``They just don’t tell you (that they are MSM). .. If we say, we are going to find MSM, it’s going to be a tall order -- particularly in rural communities.’’