Hiv Testing

[CHATSDALE]

There has been some proposals in the paper that there is talk about hiv testing being a standard test with hospital admissions and md visits.

would this be a way to alert those who need to start tx as soon as possible or is it an invasion of privacy...

i saw magic johnson on tv the other day and he looked very good probably b/c his case was discovered early and tx has been ongoing...of course few people are as healthy to begin with or have the money to persue the latest in medical care but an ordinary man with a physical when ever he feels like it [read never]

it may not have been discovered until a lot of harm had been done

but i can also see the point that there can still be a stigma attached to dx..it can be an insurance problem and job problems if this info finds its way into other than medical reports

OPINIONS???

[elkpark]

It's a moot point at present, because of the v. strict regulations about consent and pre- and post-test counseling -- it could certainly be offered to people routinely on admissions and office visits, but you couldn't just do it routinely on everyone.

As long as there is the widespread stigma and discrimination in employment, housing, and insurance coverage that still exists regarding HIV infection, I can't support the idea of "automatic" or mandatory testing.

[BETSRN]

There has been some proposals in the paper that there is talk about hiv testing being a standard test with hospital admissions and md visits.

would this be a way to alert those who need to start tx as soon as possible or is it an invasion of privacy...

i saw magic johnson on tv the other day and he looked very good probably b/c his case was discovered early and tx has been ongoing...of course few people are as healthy to begin with or have the money to persue the latest in medical care but an ordinary man with a physical when ever he feels like it [read never]

it may not have been discovered until a lot of harm had been done

but i can also see the point that there can still be a stigma attached to dx..it can be an insurance problem and job problems if this info finds its way into other than medical reports

OPINIONS???

Here in CT., it is a state mandate that ALL pregnant women are screened for HIV as part of their prenatal labs. If for some reason, none was done, HIV on cord blood is done.

[steelcityrn, RN]

It may be a benefit in tx early and prevent spreading of the virus, but as argued before, where do you stop....How about testing to see if your a potential diabetic, or how about a test to see if you have the genes for breast cancer or how abour C.A.D. Awwww, it all sounds good until you need health insurance or life insurance and it comes back to bite ya in the rear. Before this testing were to happen, a law would have to be passed that under no circumstances can you be descriminated or charged more for health care , life insurance...ect...ect....

[NurseFirst]

It may be a benefit in tx early and prevent spreading of the virus, but as argued before, where do you stop....How about testing to see if your a potential diabetic, or how about a test to see if you have the genes for breast cancer or how abour C.A.D. Awwww, it all sounds good until you need health insurance or life insurance and it comes back to bite ya in the rear. Before this testing were to happen, a law would have to be passed that under no circumstances can you be descriminated or charged more for health care , life insurance...ect...ect....

DNA testing and such. But AIDS is a pandemic, and we have not treated it like any other. Consequently, it has spread much further than it had to. Read "And the Band Played On" if you want to know more...

I wonder, is there as much discrimination as there used to be? Now that we have a better understanding of how it's transmitted? As far as health or life insurance prejudice, it's no more than what a cancer dx would be, IMO.

NurseFirst

[fergus51]

I used to think there was less prejudice nowadays, then I saw how the nurses acted when we had a baby admitted whose mother was HIV+. The stigma is alive and well. HIV is standard in prenatal testing, but mothers have to consent to it. I can't see it ever becoming a routine hospital screen since it's another expense and I don't see the real practicality. As long as health care workers practice the universal precautions we are supposed to practice, we're kept safe.

[LydiaNN]

DNA testing and such. But AIDS is a pandemic, and we have not treated it like any other. Consequently, it has spread much further than it had to. Read "And the Band Played On" if you want to know more...

I wonder, is there as much discrimination as there used to be? Now that we have a better understanding of how it's transmitted? As far as health or life insurance prejudice, it's no more than what a cancer dx would be, IMO.

NurseFirst

I don't think AIDS has actually reached pandemic proportions here in the States. If you are located elsewhere, excuse my presumption that you are referring to the course it has taken here. We certainly have seen cases of it within all populations, but the high prevalence rates are confined to certain groups, which makes it an epidemic, not a pandemic. Therein lies the rub. Mandatory testing could certainly be justified if in fact we were all at relatively equal risk of carrying and spreading the virus. Given the stigma that is still attached to a positive result (and yes, IMHO, that stigma still exists and in some states is becoming worse for political reasons that aren't appropriate for discussion in this thread), I can't imagine that mandatory testing will become a reality any time soon.