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10th Anniversary Conference Of The British HIV Association [BHIVA]15 – 17 April 2004, City Hall, Cardiff, UK |
[AUTHOR(S):] M Fisher1, G Dean1, V Cooper2, G Murphy3, D Pao1, J Parry3
1 Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, 2 Brighton University, 3 Health Protection Agency, UK
BHIVA Conf 2004 Apr 15-17;10:O8
BACKGROUND: Identification of recent HIV infection (RHI) may enable early intervention and reduce onward transmission. Conventional methods for identifying RHI are limited. STARHS diagnoses infection within the previous 4–6 months. In this study, we determined to what extent adjunctive use of STARHS identified further RHI, and observed RHI trends over time.
METHODS: Incident cases from 1996 to 2002 were determined by conventional methods (HIV-negative test within 18 months, evolving antibody response or incomplete Western blot), by STARHS and by both methods combined. Trends over time were determined using the Kruskal–Wallis Test (using the Statistical Procedure for the Social Sciences, SPSS).
RESULTS: Of 486 individuals newly diagnosed during the study period 387 (89%) underwent STARHS serum analysis. New diagnoses identified as incident by conventional methods increased from 0/50 (1996) to 18/82 (2002). STARHS identified a further 48 incident infections (11% of total new infections; 48% of total incident), ranging from 2/50 (1997) to 14/82 (2002). Using a combination of conventional methods and STARHS, RHI increased over time from 9/50 (1996) to 32/82 (2002) [P<0.001].
CONCLUSION: Adjunctive use of STARHS identified a high and increasing proportion of new HIV diagnoses as incident, which may confirm significant ongoing transmission, enabling early intervention, which could benefit both the individual and the population.
PRESENTING AUTHOR: D Pao
040415
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Copyright © 2004 - British HIV Association (BHIVA) Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the BHIVA Organising Secretariat 1 Mountview Court, 310 Friern Barnet Lane, London N20 0LD