HIV risk behaviour, viraemia, and transmission across HIV cascade stages including low-level viremia: Analysis of 14 cross-sectional population-based HIV Impact Assessment surveys in sub-Saharan Africa.

As antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage for people living with HIV (PLHIV) increases, HIV programmes require up-to-date information about evolving HIV risk behaviour and transmission risk, including those with low-level viremia (LLV; >50 to ≤1000 copies/mL), to guide prevention priorities. We aimed to assess differences in sexual risk behaviours, distribution of viral load (VL) and proportion of transmission across PLHIV subgroups. We analysed data from Population-based HIV Impact Assessment surveys in 14 sub-Saharan African countries during 2015-2019.

Progress in scale up of HIV viral load testing in select sub-Saharan African countries 2016-2018.

Introduction: We assessed progress in HIV viral load (VL) scale up across seven sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and discussed challenges and strategies for improving VL coverage among patients on anti-retroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: A retrospective review of VL testing was conducted in Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda from January 2016 through June 2018. Data were collected and included the cumulative number of ART patients, number of patients with ≥ 1 VL test result (within the preceding 12 months), the percent of VL test results indicating viral suppression, and the mean turnaround time for VL testing.

Pretreatment Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Drug Resistance Among Treatment-Naive Infants Newly Diagnosed With HIV in 2016 in Namibia: Results of a Nationally Representative Study.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends routine surveillance of pretreatment human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug resistance (HIVDR) in children <18 months of age diagnosed with HIV through early infant diagnosis (EID). In 2016, 262 children <18 months of age were diagnosed with HIV in Namibia through EID. Levels of HIVDR in this population are unknown.

HIV Viral Load Monitoring Among Patients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy - Eight Sub-Saharan Africa Countries, 2013-2018.

One component of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) goal to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030, is that 95% of all persons receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) achieve viral suppression. Thus, testing all HIV-positive persons for viral load (number of copies of viral RNA per mL) is a global health priority (1). CDC and other U.

The Utility of Pleural Fluid Lactate Dehydrogenase to Adenosine Deaminase Ratio in Pleural Tuberculosis.

In high-burden settings, the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis (TB) is frequently inferred in patients who present with lymphocyte predominant exudative effusions and high adenosine deaminase (ADA) levels. Two recent small retrospective studies suggested that the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)/ADA ratio is significantly lower in TB than in non-TB pleural effusions and that the LDH/ADA ratio may be useful in differentiating pleural TB from other pleural exudates. We compared the pleural LDH/ADA ratios, ADA levels, and lymphocyte predominance of a prospectively collected cohort of patients with proven pleural TB (n = 160) to those with a definitive alternative diagnosis (n = 68).