Doctors suggest that HIV testing begin regularly at age 16

With these kids having sex younger and younger (and with teachers) nowadays, sounds like a good idea…

The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that all teens 16 to 18 years old receive regular, routine HIV tests if they live in an area where the prevalence of HIV is greater than 0.1% of the population.

The AAP also advises that adolescents of any age who are tested for other sexually transmitted infections also be tested for HIV.

Previous guidelines recommended HIV testing only for teens who admitted to being sexually active. The new recommendations were outlined in a position paper released Monday that also advocates that the routine screening be done using a rapid response test that gives a diagnosis about 20 minutes after the test is conducted.

“We’re finding that when targeted testing is offered to sexually active youth… we’re not getting those youth to actually test and we have not decreased the number of new infections in [that] population,” says Dr. Jaime Martinez, an adolescent medicine specialist with Stroger Hospital of Cook County in Chicago. He deals with HIV-infected youth daily and is one of the authors of the AAP paper.

In 2006, there were more than 1.1 million HIV-positive people living in the United States. Of that population, the CDC says 5% were adolescents and young adults, ages 13 to 24 years old. That may seem like a small overall percentage but consider this: Upwards of 70% of new HIV infections are caused by people of all ages who are unaware of their HIV-positive status. Roughly one of every two HIV-infected adolescents don’t know they’re positive.

Although there may be some parents who aren’t comfortable with this idea, the doctors are hoping that this practice will ultimately lead to better, more health-conscious decisions.

“I can’t think of a downside [to testing],” says Martinez. “We find that youth who test and become aware of whether they’re affected… become more conscious about engaging in safer sex practices.”

Are you comfortable with your 16 year-old son or daughter to get HIV tested a few times a year?

Take care of yourself people. You only get one life.

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