Opt-out HIV tests find few new infections: study
By Frederik Joelving NEW YORK | Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:16pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Routine HIV screening at a Colorado hospital identified only six more new cases than standard, targeted testing, according to a two-year study.
By comparison, an estimated 230,000 Americans currently have undiagnosed HIV, researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Today, many doctors only offer testing to patients they deem at risk, such as prostitutes or drug addicts. But since 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended large-scale screening regardless of risk factors in areas with many undiagnosed cases.
The hope is that identifying people with HIV would allow treatment to begin earlier and help curb new infections.
“There is no question that it would have an effect on prevention,” said Dr. Bernard M. Branson of the CDC, who was not involved in the new study. He said people are less likely to transmit the disease when they know they have it, and that drug treatment has the added benefit of making people much less infectious.

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