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Top 5 stories for National HIV Testing Day 2015
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Recent CDC data suggests an estimated 1.2 million persons in the United States were living with HIV infection in 2011.
While 40% of these people were engaged in HIV care, 86% were estimated to be aware of their status. Although this is an improvement compared with previous years, further improvements in testing rates could reduce the impact of the infection, according to the CDC.
“HIV diagnosis is the essential first step in the HIV care continuum,” H. Irene Hall, PhD, of the CDC HIV/AIDS Division, and colleagues wrote in MMWR. “Diagnosis allows persons to receive care and treatment to reduce viral load, increase immune function, and thereby reduce risk for transmission, morbidity and mortality.
“Decreases in undiagnosed HIV infection in recent years might be attributable to intensified testing efforts, and evidence suggests that the percentage of persons ever tested for HIV infection has increased and that the time from infection to diagnosis has decreased.”
In recognition of National HIV Testing Day, Infectious Disease News has compiled a list of the top stories on HIV testing in the past year.
HIV testing in ED serves as link to care
SEATTLE — An HIV testing program in an ED, which was originally implemented to describe the local epidemic, played a significant role in linking individuals to care, according to data presented at CROI 2015. Read more
Smartphone accessory tests for HIV, syphilis
Researchers have developed a low-cost smartphone accessory that can be used at the point of care to test for HIV and syphilis infection within 15 minutes, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine. Read more
Social networking identified more HIV infections than self-referral
PHILADELPHIA — The number of reactive HIV tests was 2.6 times higher among clients recruited for testing using social networking strategies compared with clients screened by standard client-initiated counseling, testing and referral programs, according to data presented at IDWeek 2014. Read more
CDC: Sexual behaviors associated with frequency of HIV testing
A research brief from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics suggests people who exhibit behaviors that put them at risk for HIV — including having one or more same-sex partners or numerous opposite-sex partners — are more likely to get tested for HIV than the rest of Americans. Read more
Single POC test detecting HIV antibodies, viral RNA in development
The NIH has awarded $335,000 to the New York University College of Dentistry for the development of a single point-of-care test able to detect HIV/AIDS antibodies and viral RNA from one specimen, according to a press release. Read more