Compulsory Premarital Screening for HIV

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To the Editor. —The analysis of proposed premarital screening programs for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by Cleary et al1is the most detailed and thorough published to date. While the cost of such programs is clearly significant, the benefits seem underestimated when recent data are taken into account. Today's enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays are considerably improved over those cited by Cleary et al. The Abbott test, for example, is Food and Drug Administration—licensed at 100% sensitivity and 99.85% specificity. As we will show, this change has a significant impact on the expected outcomes of testing. For their calculations, Cleary et al assume that the rate of HIV infection among marriage applicants equals the 0.04% rate among blood donors, even while noting that "blood collection facilities actively discourage individuals at high risk of infection from donating blood." This practice, combined with donor questionnaires and other screening mechanisms, makes it unlikely that

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: