Updated guidance for HIV screening can be found in the 2023 Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care (Periodicity Schedule) from Bright Futures and the AAP. No other changes were made since the schedule was last published in July 2022.
The Periodicity Schedule addresses well-child visits from birth to age 21.
In the 2023 update, the upper age limit for the range in which HIV screening can take place has been extended from 18 to 21 years (previously 15-18 years). This aligns with recommendations in the AAP clinical report Adolescents and Young Adults: The Pediatrician’s Role in HIV Testing and Pre- and Postexposure HIV Prophylaxis (https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-055207) and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
Footnote 30 in the schedule now states that adolescents should be screened for HIV at least once between ages 15 and 21 (previously 18). It repeats the recommendation that every effort should be made to preserve adolescent confidentiality as described in U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — Final Recommendation Statement “Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection: Screening” (http://bit.ly/3R6nFxT).
After screening, youths at increased risk of HIV infection should be retested annually or more frequently (https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-055207).
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