Confidentiality

[Godfrey]

I'd like to know, what are the basic principle regarding discloser of an hiv carrier.

in u.s and u.k?

and is there a different between discloser of venereal disease and other medical information?

[Devlon]

HIV is a venereal disease and as such should be reported to the health department and all contacts should be followed. To notify anyone except health department contact tracers of the names of those involved makes no sense. Confidentiality is important, but not to the extent that pjysicians in the US think they do not need to report HIV infections to local health departments. Health departments do keep records confidential, but are obliged to check out all known contacts. Different states may have different approaches.