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CDC plans to
recommend routine HIV testing
Routine testing would help identify Americans unaware they're HIV-positive.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will recommend that HIV antibody testing become a routine part of all medical exams for U.S. patients ages 13 to 64, The Wall Street Journal reports. Tests would be recommended for patients of private practices, clinics, hospitals, and emergency rooms, in an effort to help identify the estimated one quarter to one third of HIV-positive Americans who are unaware they're infected, say CDC officials.
The agency also is urging revisions to HIV testing guidelines to make testing easier, including possibly replacing the written consent forms for testing with simply obtaining verbal consent, and either eliminating or condensing pre- and post-testing counseling. The counseling requirements range from state to state, with some requiring a 20-minute counseling session before testing, a requirement that is too burdensome for already overworked doctors, nurses, and other health care providers.
The CDC's recommendations are expected to be announced in either June or July in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a CDC publication. (The Advocate)
