HIV: who should be tested?

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends that all pregnant women, rather than just those considered to be at high risk, be screened for HIV infection. (1) According to the group, a review of the literature from 1983 to 2004 revealed "good evidence" that available tests "accurately detect HIV infection in pregnant women" and that standard drug therapies "are acceptable to pregnant women and lead to significantly reduced rates of mother-to-child transmission." Furthermore, the task force has concluded that the potential risks associated with antiretroviral therapy are outweighed by the benefits of screening all pregnant women. As for the wider population, the task force recommends that all adolescents and adults with risk factors be screened, but views the benefit of universal screening as "too small relative to potential harms to justify a general recommendation."

(1.) U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Screening for human immunodeficiency virus infection, 2005, <http://www. ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspshivi.htm>, accessed July 8, 2005.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.