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Call to Make HIV Screening Routine

Along with mammograms, colonoscopies and blood pressure tests, doctors may soon be adding another screening test to their arsenal: HIV tests.

Routine HIV testing in American adults and teens may be an effective and efficient way to cut down the number of HIV infections and the cost of treatment, reports researchers in a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Early identification of HIV saves lives,” said Dr. David Paltiel, lead study author from the Yale School of Public Health, Connecticut.

Paltiel estimates that as many as 300,000 Americans are currently infected with HIV and do not know it, making them more likely to cause others to become infected.

Using a mathematical model, Paltiel and colleagues took into account the cost of routine HIV testing in consideration with the cost of detection, treatment, transmission and loss of earnings due to death. Ultimately, it was determined that routine HIV screening every five years was a cost effective way to help lower the rate of HIV.

“HIV screening delivers better value than many other diagnostic tests and treatments that physicians use routinely in daily practice, including screening for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes and hypertension,” said Paltiel.

However, Paltiel cautions that his model only works if once a person is diagnosed with HIV, he or she seeks treatment. "There is no point searching for needles in haystacks if you merely plan to throw them back in," said Paltiel.

Paltiel’s findings led to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations that all Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 be routinely screened for HIV.