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Offer High School Students HIV Testing, CDC Reiterates
Only about 13% of high school students have ever been tested for HIV, despite the fact that this age group harbors a disproportionate number of undiagnosed cases, according to MMWR.
According to a 2007 survey of high school students across the U.S., testing prevalence increased with increasing grade and was generally higher among the groups at greatest risk for HIV.
MMWR's editors conclude: "Health-care providers [among others] play critical roles in providing support and guidance to adolescents in making decisions about the timing and frequency of HIV testing. Because adolescents might be sexually active but unwilling to discuss this information, health-care providers should provide HIV testing routinely to all patients aged 13 years or older in accordance with CDC recommendations."
LINK(S):
MMWR article (Free)
CDC recommendations on testing for HIV (Free)
Published in Physician's First Watch June 26, 2009
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