title: When pregnant women are not screened for HIV.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  One of my patients gave birth to a baby later diagnosed with HIV infection. I did not offer this patient HIV screening, as I thought she was at low risk. What are the recommendations for HIV testing and what might be the implications of not screening for HIV?
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although screening is currently recommended by all relevant authorities in Canada, more than 10% of women are not screened antenatally, increasing their babies' risk for infection. This rate represents a failure that is probably a combination of omission at times by clinicians, embarrassment about discussing the issue on the part of either the physician or the patient, and poor counseling. All Canadian women should receive appropriate antenatal counseling for HIV screening.
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shrim
authors.forename: Facundo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Garcia-Bournissen
authors.forename: Kellie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Gideon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koren
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Farine
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data