HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections in Rhode Island: Trends, Disparities, and Health Equity.

Over the past 10 years, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have seen a significant resurgence in the United States despite the availability of effective treatments and reliable prevention methods. Rhode Island has experienced a similar uptick in the incidence of syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea, with many cases occurring among gay, bisexual, men who have sex with men (GBMSM), which coincides with a recent concerning rise in congenital syphilis cases. We reviewed the most recent STI trends for the state of Rhode Island in 2022.

Prospective Evaluation of Routine Statewide Integration of Molecular Epidemiology and Contact Tracing to Disrupt Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a global challenge and novel measures for transmission disruption are needed. Contact tracing is limited by reluctance or inability of newly diagnosed individuals to name at-risk contacts. Molecular cluster analysis is mostly used for outbreak investigations, and its role in routine public health activities remains uncertain.

Integrating HIV Cluster Analysis in Everyday Public Health Practice: Lessons Learned From a Public Health--Academic Partnership.

Background: The use of molecular HIV cluster analysis to supplement public health contact tracing has shown promise in addressing HIV outbreaks. However, the potential of HIV cluster analysis as an adjunct to daily, person-by-person HIV prevention efforts remains unknown. We documented lessons learned within a unique public health-academic partnership while guiding workaday HIV prevention efforts with near-real-time molecular cluster analysis.

Acquired Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Drug Resistance in Rhode Island, USA, 2004-2021.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) acquired drug resistance (ADR) compromises antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: We aggregated all HIV-1 protease-reverse transcriptase-integrase sequences over 2004-2021 at the largest HIV center in Rhode Island and evaluated ADR extent, trends, and impact using Stanford Database tools. Trends were measured with Mann-Kendall statistic, and multivariable regressions evaluated resistance predictors.

An Automated Bioinformatics Pipeline Informing Near-Real-Time Public Health Responses to New HIV Diagnoses in a Statewide HIV Epidemic.

Molecular HIV cluster data can guide public health responses towards ending the HIV epidemic. Currently, real-time data integration, analysis, and interpretation are challenging, leading to a delayed public health response. We present a comprehensive methodology for addressing these challenges through data integration, analysis, and reporting.

Not all clusters are equal: dynamics of molecular HIV-1 clusters in a statewide Rhode Island epidemic.

Objectives: Molecular epidemiology is a powerful tool to characterize HIV epidemics and prioritize public health interventions. Typically, HIV clusters are assumed to have uniform patterns over time. We hypothesized that assessment of cluster evolution would reveal distinct cluster behavior, possibly improving molecular epidemic characterization, towards disrupting HIV transmission.

Beyond HIV outbreaks: protocol, rationale and implementation of a prospective study quantifying the benefit of incorporating viral sequence clustering analysis into routine public health interventions.

Introduction: HIV continues to have great impact on millions of lives. Novel methods are needed to disrupt HIV transmission networks. In the USA, public health departments routinely conduct contact tracing and partner services and interview newly HIV-diagnosed index cases to obtain information on social networks and guide prevention interventions.