Open AccessHIV – lessons from a late diagnosis
Author(s) -
Chan Xh,
Onen Bl,
Raza Mm,
Dushyant Mital,
Smith Rw
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acute medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1747-4892
pISSN - 1747-4884
DOI - 10.52964/amja.0613
Subject(s) - medicine , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , audit , hiv diagnosis , hiv test , disease , test (biology) , medical unit , family medicine , pediatrics , intensive care medicine , medical emergency , emergency medicine , health services , antiretroviral therapy , environmental health , pathology , viral load , health facility , paleontology , population , management , economics , biology
Late HIV diagnosis is the most important predictor of HIV-related morbidity and mortality in the UK and often results from missed testing opportunities during earlier contact with health services. The HPA now recommends routine HIV testing be commissioned as a priority for all general medical admissions in high prevalence areas, such as Milton Keynes. We present the case of a patient admitted to our Medical Admissions Unit (MAU) managed initially for presumed septic complications of metastatic disease who was later found to have terminal HIV disease. In keeping with UK-wide experience which we review, a local audit following this case found MAU HIV test coverage increased after routine testing but not after staff education alone, and resulted in implementation of routine HIV testing in our MAU.