title: [HIV testing of the general population: international recommendations and actual risks for HIV infections in health occupations].
abstract: Austria has the highest HIV-test rate per 1,000 inhabitants in the European Union. This may be related to beliefs held by the health care personnel that knowledge of the HIV-serostatus of a patient (e.g. via preoperative routine testing) serves as a protective measure against occupational HIV-infection for themselves. International guidelines recommend universal screening for HIV in health-care settings only when the undiagnosed prevalence of HIV is >  0.1 %, or the diagnosed prevalence is > 0.2 %. HIV poses a small, but real risk to health-care personnel. Worldwide, 106 cases of occupational HIV-infection have been documented (since the beginning of counting in the 1990s until 2002): in Austria there have been 4 cases of occupational HIV-infection in 15 years of documentation. There is no convincing evidence that knowledge of the serostatus of a patient leads to changes in the behaviour of health-care workers. For low-prevalence countries, such as Austria, a rather focused testing-strategy is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Health Technology Assessment, Garnisongasse 7/20, 1090, Wien, Osterreich, claudia.wild@hta.lbg.ac.at.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dellinger
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001317:Austria; D005060:Europe; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007391:International Cooperation; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014600:Utilization Review