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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I�m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

A new recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force calls for all pregnant women to be screened for HIV -- not just those identified as at risk. The goal: to find women who don�t realize they�re infected.

HIV is diagnosed through a special blood test, which carries no risk and causes no pain other than the stick of the needle that draws the blood. If the diagnosis is positive, mothers-to-be are treated with drug therapies that have minimal risk to them and are safe for infants.

Dr. Diana Petitti of Kaiser Permanente Southern California is Task Force Vice-Chair.

"Infected mothers who receive treatment can reduce the chance that their infants will be infected to as low as 1 percent, as opposed to 25 percent of infants born to HIV-positive mothers who aren't treated during pregnancy. So getting tested is the first step in protecting the baby." (15 seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I�m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September 20, 2005

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