This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA

JAMA. 1998;279:350-352.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MMWR. 1998;46:1254-1271

2 tables omitted

NOTIFIABLE DISEASE reporting laws or regulations in states and territories require reporting of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases, including patient and physician names, to state or local health authorities. As of January 1, 1998, a total of 31 states were conducting name-based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) case surveillance by using the same methods as surveillance for AIDS. However, because of concerns about name-based HIV surveillance, Maryland and Texas implemented HIV surveillance using non-name unique identifiers (UI).* This report summarizes a 3-year collaboration by CDC and these states to evaluate UI surveillance for HIV infection; the findings indicate some limitations to the use of a Social Security number-based UI for HIV surveillance.

In both Maryland and Texas, UI surveillance for HIV was implemented in early 1994, and both used the same 12-digit numeric UI code (comprising the last four digits of the patient's Social Security number . . . [Full Text of this Article]