Routine HIV Tests Backed for U.S. Adults

Nearly all adults and older teens should get tested for HIV at least once, a top group of experts says. The advice comes from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Doctors and insurance companies often follow this group’s advice on preventive care. The task force recommends that people ages 15 through 64 get the test as a routine part of a checkup. In the past, tests were recommended only for people at high risk of infection. But the new advice is based on growing evidence that treatment not only lengthens life but also greatly reduces the chance of spreading the virus to others. Experts estimate that 20% of those who are infected don’t know it and therefore are not getting treatment. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has backed widespread HIV testing for some time. But most doctors still don’t do the tests routinely.