Research and analysis

HPR volume 10 issue 43: news (9 December)

Updated 16 December 2016

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1. HIV testing report for England, new NICE/PHE guideline

PHE’s recently-published HIV Testing in England report provides a single resource for national monitoring data on HIV testing activity for the first time [1].

The report includes an assessment of the degree of implementation of national HIV testing guidelines. Expansion of HIV testing in the UK has been widely advocated in HIV testing guidance but there is concern over poor implementation and lack of commissioning in some settings. PHE is recommending that specialist sexual health clinics should improve HIV testing for all attendees, especially:

  • the sexual partners of people with HIV
  • black African women.

It also recommends that:

  • gay/bisexual men should be encouraged to have regular HIV tests at specialist sexual health clinics (or other venues) or by ordering self-sampling HIV kits on-line [2]
  • HIV testing should be improved for patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C, less than half of whom are tested for HIV within six months of their diagnoses.

The first HIV Testing in England report coincides with publication of new NICE/PHE guidelines recommending HIV testing in general practices and among hospital admissions, especially in high, and extremely-high, prevalence areas [3].

1.1 References

  1. PHE (December 2016). HIV testing in England: 2016 report.
  2. Test.hiv website. A nationally-commissioned provider of HIV home-sampling screening, including offers of free HIV tests in participating regions.
  3. NICE/PHE (December 2016). HIV testing: increasing uptake among people who may have undiagnosed HIV.

2. Avian influenza risk assessment

PHE has published a public health risk assessment relating to a strain of pathogenic avian influenza that has circulated in Europe in recent months [1].

The virus is circulating in wild birds on the Continent and the risk of incursion into UK bird flocks has increased. However, the risk to both public and occupational health is currently assessed as very low.

The last recorded outbreak of avian influenza in the UK was in 2014.

2.1 Reference

  1. PHE (December 2016). Avian influenza A(H5N8) in the UK: risk assessment.

3. Enteric infection reports in this issue of HPR

The following reports (for England and Wales) are published in this issue of HPR:

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