HIV AIDS screening

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editors-in-Chief: Ujjwal Rastogi, MBBS [2]

Overview

At the end of 2006, an estimated 1,106,400 persons (range: 1,056,400 – 1,156,400) in the United States were living with HIV. CDC estimates that 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States in 2006. About 1 million Americans have HIV — to a surprise, an estimated 25 percent do not know they have the infection. Therefore, HIV screening is important to both extend their lives and prevent further spreading of the disease.

Screening

HIV can be transmitted to a person receiving blood or organs from an infected donor. To reduce this risk, blood banks and organ donor programs screen donors, blood, and tissues thoroughly. People who received blood transfusions or clotting products between 1977 and 1985 (before screening for the virus became standard practice) are at highest risk for getting HIV. Basic screening lab tests and regular cervical Pap smears are important to monitor in HIV infection, due to the increased risk of cervical cancer in women with a compromised immune system.

Timing of HIV screening

CDC recommends that everyone ages 13-64 be tested once for HIV.

Rationale for Routine Screening for HIV Infection

• People who are infected with HIV but not aware of it are not able to take advantage of the therapies that can keep them healthy and extend their lives, nor do they have the knowledge to protect their sex or drug-use partners from becoming infected. Knowing whether one is positive or negative for HIV confers great benefits in healthy decision making.
• Cohort studies have demonstrated that many infected persons decrease behaviors that help transmit infection to sex or needle-sharing partners once they are aware of their positive HIV status.
• HIV-infected persons who are unaware of their infection do not reduce risk behaviors.

Screening donor blood and cellular products

Tests selected to screen donor blood and tissue must provide a high degree of confidence that HIV will be detected if present (that is, a high sensitivity is required). A combination of antibody, antigen and nucleic acid tests are used by blood banks in Western countries. The World Health Organization estimated that, inadequate blood screening had resulted in 1 million new HIV infections worldwide.

In the USA, since 1985, all blood donations are screened with an ELISA test for HIV-1 and HIV-2, as well as a nucleic acid test. These diagnostic tests are combined with careful donor selection. The risk of transfusion-acquired HIV in the U.S. was approximately one in 2.5 million for each transfusion.

Human rights

The UNAIDS/WHO policy statement on HIV Testing states that conditions under which people undergo HIV testing must be anchored in a human rights approach that pays due respect to ethical principles. According to these principles, the conduct of HIV testing of individuals must be

• Confidential.
• Accompanied by counseling (for those who test positive).
• Conducted with the informed consent of the person being tested.

Confidentiality

Considerable controversy exists over the ethical obligations of health care providers to inform the sexual partners of individuals infected with HIV that they are at risk of contracting the virus. Some legal jurisdictions permit such disclosure, while others do not. More state funded testing sites are now using confidential forms of testing. This allows for monitoring of infected individuals easily, compared to anonymous testing that has a number attached to the positive test results. Controversy exists over privacy issues.

In developing countries, home-based HIV testing and counseling (HBHTC) is an emerging approach for addressing confidentiality issues. HBHTC allows individuals, couples, and families to learn their HIV status in the convenience and privacy of their home environment. Rapid HIV tests are most often used, so results are available for the client between 15 and 30 minutes. Furthermore, when an HIV positive result is communicated, the HTC provider can offer appropriate linkages for prevention, care, and treatment.

Anonymous testing

Testing that has only a number attached to the specimen that will be delivered for testing. Items that are confirmed positive will not have the HIV infected individual's name attached to the specimen. Sites that offer this service advertise this testing option.

Routine testing recommendation

In the United States, one emerging standard of care is to screen all patients for HIV in all health care settings. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control announced an initiative for voluntary, routine testing of all Americans aged 13–64 during health care encounters. An estimated 25% of infected individuals were unaware of their status; If successful the effort was expected to reduce new infections by 30% per year. The CDC recommends elimination of requirements for written consent or extensive pre-test counseling as barriers to widespread routine testing.