This Is The Best Age for HIV Detection

HIV Illustration

 
HIV / AIDS is still a deadly disease in the world. The number of people suffering from this disease continues to increase every year. By doing screening or scanning early, then the treatment can be done immediately. With that information, it will at least reduce the rate of transmission because someone already knows what's going on inside him.

Well, at what age should screening to know that? The researchers suggest the best age for HIV detection is age 25 years. Reporting from Time on Tuesday (19/12/2017), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all people aged 13 to 64 years are required to take an HIV test, at least once.

Meanwhile, the US Preventive Services Task Force suggested that HIV detection should be done as early as possible, at least by the age of 15. They also advise people at high risk of HIV, such as those who are sexually active, sexually active LGBT couples, and drug users, should test every year.

The existence of age-ranging guidelines for performing different HIV tests, leading HIV experts from HIV treatment centers and hospitals in the United States, work together to determine the best age for a person to screen. HIV test originating from CDC, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and some hospitals in Massachusetts report that the most reasonable is at the age of 25 years.

They have studied CDC-related data on HIV diagnoses from 2009 to 2013. From the data, they found that the highest rates of new infections were experienced by people aged 22 to 25. The researchers have also calculated the costs to be incurred by HIV sufferers for treatment if they do early detection than those who know that HIV is already late and the HIV virus has spread to more organs in the body.

That's where researchers say that the age of 25 is a good time to have an HIV test. The sooner known, the more rapidly the HIV virus is prevented from spreading that can help reduce maintenance costs. Almost all over the world, 13 percent of adults do not know if they are infected with HIV. Meanwhile, 51 percent of teens ages 13 to 24 are unaware of their HIV status.

"Screening under the age of 18 is still hard to know, and if you consider all the tests, then the test at the age of 25 is more cost-effective." Anne Neilan, instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School as well as the leader of this research, quoted from TIME, Tuesday (19/12/2017).

Of course the age of 25 is not a guarantee to prevent someone from becoming infected with HIV. However, this will help ensure many cases are dealt with early and people are taking medication. That way, PLWHA does not need to spend high cost to do HIV / AIDS treatment of end-stage.

This benchmark can also help doctors and healthcare workers in HIV-related education. Neilan expects this information to encourage people to test for HIV.