In an effort to help stop the spread of HIV among teens, the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends routine screening for adolescents who live in certain high risk communities. In areas where more than 1 in every 1000 people is infected with the virus or the HIV prevalence is unknown, pediatricians should offer testing at least once to all teens between the ages of 16 to 18 regardless of sexual history. Read the full article to learn more.

Doctors rely on blood tests for cardiac troponins, proteins released into the blood by damaged heart muscle cells, to help diagnose heart attacks in people who visit the emergency department with chest pain. Evaluation of patients using the current versions of the troponin tests takes many hours to be sure whether a heart attack has occurred. Now, findings from several recent studies indicate that newer versions of troponin tests may be useful in helping to rapidly rule out heart attacks. Though results of the studies are promising, this new generation of highly sensitive troponin tests is still under evaluation and not yet approved for use in the U.S.

UPDATE: Numerous studies have concluded that current tests do not reproducibly detect Murine leukemia viruses (MLV), including xenotropic-MLV-related virus (XMRV/MLV), in blood samples from people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Two journals have now retracted previously published papers that reported finding evidence of a link between CFS and MLV-related viruses. 

A new guideline from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends routine cardiovascular screening with cholesterol tests for pre-adolescents and young adults. It advises that all youths should have cholesterol screening tests performed during well visits once between the ages of 9 and 11 and again between ages 17 and 21.