Such emotional disturbances have been reported in other countries [9], [10]

Such emotional disturbances have been reported in other countries [9], [10]. of them had a positive reaction, and the remaining 26 were nonreactive. Confirmatory Western blots and nucleic acid amplification test also showed that one was positive and RAF mutant-IN-1 the remaining 26 were negative; the subject who was positive with the confirmatory tests was identical to the subject who was positive with the second screening test. Thus, by adding the second screening test, the false-positive rate was improved from 0.4% to 0%, and the positive predictive value from 3.7% to 100%, compared with the single screening test. Conclusion By applying our serial screening algorithm to HIV testing in maternity hospitals, many uninfected pregnant women would not need to receive confirmatory tests and be subjected to emotional turmoil while waiting for their confirmatory test results. This algorithm would be suitable for HIV testing of pregnant women living in low prevalence regions such as Japan. Introduction The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic in Japan is still at a low level compared with other developed countries, but the number of newly identified infections is increasing every RAF mutant-IN-1 RAF mutant-IN-1 year. For earlier detection and clinical and preventive services, much effort is made to implement voluntary HIV counseling and testing in a variety of health-care settings including public health centers, STD clinics, and outreach medical services. According to the report of the National AIDS Surveillance Committee, 13,894 persons with HIV/AIDS were reported RAF mutant-IN-1 between 1985 and 2007, and 1,500 new cases were reported in 2007 alone [1]. The HIV prevalence in Japan was estimated at 0.008% in 2007 [2]. Of all the HIV-infected persons reported in Japan, 71.0% were Japanese men; 11.4% were non-Japanese men; 6.2% were Japanese women; and 11.4% were non-Japanese women. Currently, about 70% of the Japanese men with HIV infection are men who have sex with men. Although the HIV prevalence in women is very low in Japan (about 0.004%), universal HIV testing has been performed for pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission since 1999 [3]. Nationwide questionnaire surveys on HIV testing in pregnant women are conducted every year. The HIV testing rate has gradually increased from 73.2% in 1999 to 97.2% in 2007. Over the 21 years between 1987 and 2007, mother-to-child transmission has occurred in only one in 219 (0.5%) HIV-infected pregnant women who received both antiretroviral therapy (ART) and a cesarean section, one in 17 (6%) women who had a cesarean section without ART, and 14 in 36 (39%) women who delivered vaginally [3]. Although prenatal HIV testing is essential for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, there are concerns about false-positive results of screening tests [4], [5]. Positive test results may cause anxiety of HIV infection and emotional stress in pregnant women waiting for confirmatory test results. Some severe cases were covered by the mass media in 2007, leading to an official notification within the EDA frequent observation of HIV false-positive screening results from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan [6]. There has been little study within the rate of false-positive results in HIV screening screening of pregnant women in Japan. Therefore, we carried out a prospective study at two maternity private hospitals in the Tokyo metropolitan area to evaluate the overall performance of screening test, including the prevalence, false-positive rate, and positive predictive value, and proposed a new HIV screening algorithm composed of two serial checks to enable a substantial reduction in the number of false-positive results at this stage. Materials and Methods Study Establishing The study was carried out from September, 2004 to January, 2006 in two maternity.