Introduction:

In the Popular Council called Puerta de Golpe there is a tendency to increase the number of people infected with HIV, constituting this a concern for primary health care.

Objective:

To assess the level of knowledge on HIV infection in people aged 15 to 24 years.

Methods:

A descriptive, cross-sectional research was carried out in the Popular Council called Puerta de Golpe in Consolación del Sur municipality, during the year 2016. The sample group was of 1778 people and by a simple random sampling it was formed by 264, which underwent into a knowledge survey on HIV/AIDS prevention, using the simple percentage method that was presented in tables and graphics.

Results:

More than 80% of those polled had knowledge about HIV, adequately identified the most frequent transmission ways and the risks of getting the infection. The most widely used information retrieval ways were parents, school and television with 36.7%, 31.4% and 23.1% respectively. Of those polled, 57% proved to have no risk perception of the possibility of HIV infection.

Conclusions:

Although there is knowledge on HIV infection in the studied people, they do not fully understand the extent of their exposure to risk and the potentially dangerous outcomes of this disease, thus increasing the vulnerability of adolescents and young people to HIV/AIDS.

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