Revised surveillance case definitions for HIV infection among adults, adolescents, and children aged <18 months and for HIV infection and AIDS among children aged 18 months to <13 years--United States, 2008.

For adults and adolescents (i.e., persons aged >/=13 years), the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection classification system and the surveillance case definitions for HIV infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have been revised and combined into a single case definition for HIV infection. In addition, the HIV infection case definition for children aged <13 years and the AIDS case definition for children aged 18 months to <13 years have been revised. No changes have been made to the HIV infection classification system, the 24 AIDS-defining conditions for children aged <13 years, or the AIDS case definition for children aged <18 months. These case definitions are intended for public health surveillance only and not as a guide for clinical diagnosis. Public health surveillance data are used primarily for monitoring the HIV epidemic and for planning on a population level, not for making clinical decisions for individual patients. CDC and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists recommend that all states and territories conduct case surveillance of HIV infection and AIDS using the 2008 surveillance case definitions, effective immediately.