AAFP Recommends Against Screening Low-risk Population
June 13, 2014 04:45 pm Chris Crawford – On May 27, the U.S. Preventive
Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a
recommendation(www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org) that screening for
hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection should be performed in people at high
risk for infection. The recommendation was based on a systematic review
of evidence conducted to update the task force's 2004 recommendation
statement.
"The AAFP Commission on Health of the Public and Science felt it was
important to continue to recommend against screening the low-risk
population," said Doug Campos-Outcalt, M.D., M.P.A., of Phoenix. "The
AAFP agrees with screening those at high risk, but believes we should
not offer universal screening for hepatitis B."
Campos-Outcalt, the AAFP liaison to the USPSTF, said the reasoning
behind the AAFP's recommendation against screening the low-risk
population included the fact that the rates of HBV infection in those
not at high risk are very low. "In addition," he added, "an increasing
percentage of the population is immune secondary to childhood
vaccination. HBV has been on the recommended routine immunization
schedule for about 25 years."
Read more... Labels: AAFP screening recommendations, USPSTF