[down double arrow] All pregnant women should be screened for HIV, according to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which notes that women are acquiring HIV more rapidly than any other demographic group in the United States. An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 women with HIV infection give birth each year, but the HIV status of 40% of them is unknown at the time of labor. If the disease is left untreated, the vertical transmission rate is 14% to 25%. Prenatal screening of all pregnant women and treatment of all who're HIV positive could reduce that rate dramatically. The guidelines are available at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf05/hiv/hivprenat.htm.