Using HIV and Hepatitis C Molecular Epidemiology to Investigate Assisted Partner Services Recruitment Among People Who Inject Drugs in Kenya.

Sexual and/or injecting partners of people who inject drugs (PWID) may have an elevated risk of HIV infection either from sharing a transmission network or an epidemiological environment. We estimated the degree of similarity between HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) sequences from PWID and their partners to assess whether partner-based recruitment identifies sexual or injecting partners within transmission networks. We used assisted partner services (APS) to recruit sexual and injecting partners of PWID living with HIV in Kenya and evaluated trends in the TN93 distances (an adjusted measure of sequence similarity) of the HIV-1 and HCV sequences from partner pairs.

Uptake and acceptability of oral HIV self-testing in the context of assisted partner services in Western Kenya: A mixed-methods analysis.

Integrating HIV self-testing (HIVST) into assisted partner services (APS) has potential to increase identification of people with HIV in the community, but little is known about acceptability of HIVST among partners traced via APS. We assessed characteristics of APS partners testing with HIVST, and factors influencing HIVST uptake and acceptability in a cluster-randomized control trial on APS+HIVST. Using convergent parallel mixed-methods design, we evaluated socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics of APS partners who were offered HIVST or provider-delivered testing, and purposively selected a sub-set of partners for in-depth interviews (IDIs).

Epigenetic modulation via the C-terminal tail of H2A.Z.

H2A.Z-nucleosomes are present in both euchromatin and heterochromatin and it has proven difficult to interpret their disparate roles in the context of their stability features. Using an in situ assay of nucleosome stability and DT40 cells expressing engineered forms of the histone variant we show that native H2A.

HIV testing services and HIV self-testing programming within emergency care in Kenya: a qualitative study of healthcare personnel to inform enhanced service delivery approaches.

In Kenya, persons insufficiently engaged in HIV Testing Services (HTS) are often treated in emergency departments (ED). There are limited data from healthcare workers on ED-HTS. A qualitative study was completed to understand challenges and facilitators for ED-HTS and HIV self-testing (HIVST).

Cost and Cost-Effectiveness of Distributing HIV Self-Tests within Assisted Partner Services in Western Kenya.

Assisted partner services (APS) is a recommended public health approach to promote HIV testing for sexual partners of individuals diagnosed with HIV. We evaluated the cost and cost-effectiveness of integrating oral HIV self-testing (HIVST) into existing APS programs. Within the APS-HIVST study conducted in western Kenya (2021-2022), we conducted micro-costing, time-and-motion, and provider surveys to determine incremental HIVST distribution cost (2022 USD).