Latest HIV news for the primary care physician

Healio.com/Family Medicine presents the latest in HIV and AIDS news, including an update on FDA blood donation guidelines for men who have sex with men and a call for increased STD testing among patients with HIV.

FDA issues final guidance on blood donations from MSM

The FDA has released the final version of its blood donation safety guidelines, which allow MSM to donate if their most recent male sexual contact was at least 1 year earlier.

Despite this change, the agency continues to recommend that indefinite deferral remain for commercial sex workers and injection drug users. Read more.

Foreign-born adoptees with HIV show few serious health conditions

Adopted children with HIV from foreign countries had no increased risk for severe medical issues such as immunosuppression.

Study researchers wrote that the most frequently identified medical problems were dermatologic and gastrointestinal, including tinea, molluscum contagiosum, parasite infections and diarrhea. The researchers considered these conditions mild. Read more.

VIDEO: Providers must be vigilant about screening for other STDs

Ina Park, MD, medical director of the California STD/HIV Prevention Training Center and associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine discusses an ocular presentation of syphilis as well as other STDs in patients with HIV. She emphasizes the importance of frequent STD screening among these patients, noting that the increase in syphilis should serve as a reminder to be vigilant. Watch video.

Sexual disclosure laws require reconsideration for teens with HIV

Troubled adolescents with HIV infection often experience social barriers that prevent or discourage disclosure of their status to sexual partners that can lead to prosecution. Barriers among this at-risk demographic highlight the need for a review of zero-tolerance mandatory disclosure laws, according to a study presented at the CDC’s National HIV Prevention Conference. Read more.

Opt-out testing at children’s hospitals increases HIV testing rate

Hospital-wide opt-out testing was successful at increasing the HIV testing rate among children aged 13 years and older at two U.S. children’s hospitals.

Study results showed that after 1 year, there were 2,231 patients tested at St. Christopher’s and 2,880 at Benioff, representing 16.8% and 25.2% of eligible patients, respectively. This translated to a 7.2% increase in testing at Benioff compared with the previous year. Read more.