Since HIV is more likely to be sexually transmitted when HIV viral loads are greater than 1500 copies/mL, Kate Buchacz presented data at CROI 2017, from 5,873 adult patients from the HOPS cohort, to assess the percentage of person-time spent with viral loads >1500 copies/mL, and how this changed over time. Of these, 86% were on ART, with a median 15 viral loads per patient. Overall, the number of patients with viral loads >1500 copies/mL decreased from 37% in 2000 to 10% in 2014, implying a decreasing risk for transmission. Over time, more patients used ART, including integrase inhibitors, and during the time when ART was prescribed, person-time spent with VL above 1500 copies/mL decreased from 32% in 2000 to 7% in 2014, demonstrating that adult US patients in routine HIV care spent substantially less time with VLs over 1500 copies/mL from 2000 to 2014. This time-period was also characterized by a shift toward universal ART initiation and continuous improvements in ART regimens. The observed trends imply a decreasing risk of HIV transmission from persons in HIV-care over the last decade and the need to focus interventions on subsets of patients more consistently viremic.
Reference:
Kate Buchacz, Maria Mendoza, Carl Armon, Frank J. Palella, Charles Rose, Ellen Tedaldi, Richard Novak, Lytt Gardner. Time spent with HIV viral load >1500 copies/ml among patients in HIV care, 2000-2014. Presented February 14, 2017 at CROI 2017, Seattle, WA. Oral Abstract #30.
02/14/2017
Treatment IS Prevention
Source: Reporting from Seattle for PRN News: James Braun DO