Becky Kuhn, M.D. explains why everyone age 13-64 should be tested for HIV at every doctor's office visit. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommended in September 2006 that all patients age 13-64 years be tested for HIV when they visit the doctor's office. As of the end of 2003, it was estimated that one in four HIV positive individuals in the United States do not know they have been infected with HIV. As a result, they will not get the medical care that could improve their health and prolong or save their life. They also may transmit the virus to others without realizing it and fail to take protective measures like safer sex practices that could prevent HIV transmission. You may feel perfectly healthy and also feel you are at little risk for HIV. But there are many individuals who had felt well and felt they were not at risk for contracting HIV and ended up testing positive during a routine HIV screening, for example during a pregnancy. Increasingly, new HIV infections are being found among other ...
