New HIV Test Rules Arrive In New Year

By Bill Zeeble, KERA News

Dallas, TX –

Texas has ordered changes to HIV-testing requirements for pregnant women, effective January 1st. The goal is stop the AIDS-causing disease from infecting newborns. KERA's Bill Zeeble exlains.

Beginning with the new year, clinicians must test pregnant women in the first and third trimesters. They're currently tested in the first trimester and at delivery. If the first test is negative, the 2nd might catch an HIV infection the woman might have contracted in the meantime. Jenny Mcfarlane, with the Department of State Health Services, says if the infection goes undetected, there's a 25 percent chance her newborn will be HIV positive.

Jenny Mcfarlane: Now, if she gets medication during her pregnancy at labor and delivery, and the baby gets medication also, the transmission rate drops down to one or two percent. It's really phenomenal.

Mcfarlane says if there's no indication the woman was tested for HIV in the 3rd trimester, the new law says the baby must be tested within 2 hours of birth. If its positive, Mcfarlane says the best outcome results if the newborn gets medicine in the first 12 hours.

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