Mandatory HIV Testing

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that many pregnant women infected with HIV/AIDS may not be aware of the harm they could be doing to their offspring because their babies also may be infected by the virus before or during birth. The author stresses that mandatory HIV testing is essential for pregnant mothers because, if they are infected with HIV, treatment is available to help prevent their babies from becoming infected. The paper relates that HIV not only can be passed to unborn babies through the placenta by exposure to blood and body fluids during labor and delivery, but also babies can get the virus from the breast milk of infected mother.

From the Paper:

"Babies from HIV-infected pregnant women are given the ELISA and Western blot tests after birth. However, because of the mother's antibodies to HIV are passed on to the baby, the test results are not always completely precise. If a newborn's tests are negative, she cannot be sure that the child is not infected with HIV until many months later. She will need to have her baby tested again after several months regardless of whether they are infected. Infant HIV testing should be done as soon after birth as possible so appropriate treatment interventions can be implemented quickly, also. Babies infected with HIV may not have symptoms until they are about 9 months old, and will develop symptoms before they are 1 year old."

More papers on Mandatory HIV Testing:

• Argumentative Essay # 10050 : "Mandatory Premarital HIV Testing"
• Term Paper # 124133 : "Mandatory Testing for AIDS"
• Essay # 39197 : "AIDS, Pregnancy and Mandatory Testing"

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