Reinfection and resistance associated substitutions following a minimal monitoring approach for HCV treatment in MINMON trial.

Background: Simplified approaches to HCV treatment delivery are needed to meet elimination goals. However, the impact of low-touch strategies on individuals at higher risk due to treatment failure or reinfection is unknown. We estimated HCV reinfection rates, and the impact of resistance associated substitutions (RASs) on response in the ACTG A5360 (MINMON) trial.

A precision randomized trial to evaluate the impact of tailored hepatitis C treatment adherence support on HCV treatment outcomes among people who inject drugs in India: Design and Baseline Characteristics of the STOP-C Trial.

Efforts to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a public health problem must include people who inject drugs (PWID). We describe the design and baseline characteristics of the Supporting Treatment Outcomes among PWID (STOP-C) trial which evaluates whether HCV treatment outcomes in PWID can be optimized by tailoring treatment support in 7 PWID-focused integrated HIV/HCV prevention/treatment centers. The design is a 3-arm, individual-level precision-randomized trial.

Preferences and Feasibility of Long-Acting Technologies for the Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus: A Survey of Patients in Diverse Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Despite available curative treatments, global rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection persist with significant burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Long-acting (LA) antiviral products are in development. This study explored the challenges and opportunities in LA-HCV treatment across three LMICs: Egypt, Ethiopia and India.

Persistently high HIV incidence among men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs attending integrated care centres in India: a longitudinal assessment of clinic-based data.

Introduction: Globally, there have been significant declines in HIV incidence over the past two decades, but this decline is slowing, and in some settings, declines have stalled or are growing-particularly where epidemics are concentrated in key populations (KPs). Understanding temporal changes in HIV incidence among KP is critical yet, due to logistical constraints, there are few sources of longitudinal incidence data, particularly among KP.

Methods: We present HIV incidence rates from June 2014 to December 2022 among cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who inject drugs (PWID) attending community-based integrated care centres (ICCs) in 15 Indian cities.

Expanding single-venue services to better engage young people who inject drugs: insights from India.

Background: Over the last decade, India has had an alarming rise in injection of opioids across several cities. Although scale-up of public sector services for people who inject drugs (PWID) in India has occurred over decades, accessibility has been diminished by fragmented services across physical locations. To circumvent this barrier, and in alignment with the World Health Organization's guidelines to provide comprehensive care to key populations, Integrated Care Centers (ICCs) were established across 8 Indian cities as a public-private service delivery model for providing free single-venue services to PWID.

Family-centred interventions for people with substance use disorders in low-income and middle-income country settings: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Substance use disorder (SUD) and problematic substance use are global public health concerns with significant multifaceted implications for physical health and psychosocial well-being. The impact of SUD extends beyond the individual to their family while imposing financial and social burdens on the community. Though family-centred interventions have shown promise in addressing SUD, their implementation and impact in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) remain underexplored.

Hepatitis B Virus in People who Inject Drugs and Men who Have Sex With Men With HIV in India: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background: People with HIV (PWH) who are coinfected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) have a higher risk of mortality compared with PWH alone. Populations such as people who inject drugs (PWID) and men who have sex with men (MSM) are particularly at high risk for HBV acquisition; yet, limited epidemiological data from these populations exist on HBV prevalence from low- and middle-income country settings (LMICs).

Methods: We characterized the prevalence and correlates of HBV serological markers in a sample of PWID and MSM with HIV recruited across 15 Indian cities using hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc), and hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs).

Geography versus sociodemographics as predictors of changes in daily mobility across the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic: a two-stage regression analysis across 26 metropolitan areas.

Objective: We investigated whether a zip code's location or demographics are most predictive of changes in daily mobility throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: We used a population-level study to examine the predictability of daily mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic using a two-stage regression approach, where generalised additive models (GAM) predicted mobility trends over time at a large spatial level, then the residuals were used to determine which factors (location, zip code-level features or number of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in place) best predict the difference between a zip code's measured mobility and the average trend on a given date.

Setting: We analyse zip code-level mobile phone records from 26 metropolitan areas in the USA on 15 March-31 September 2020, relative to October 2020.

HIV self-testing in India: implementation and qualitative evaluation of a web-based programme with virtual counsellor support.

Introduction: To achieve epidemic control of infectious diseases, engaging higher-burden populations with accessible diagnostic services is critical. HIV self-testing (HIVST) is a promising option.

Methods: We implemented an online HIVST programme for key populations across India.

Network-based strategies to combat HCV: Examining social and spatial drivers of transmission among PWID in New Delhi.

People who inject drugs (PWID) account for some of the fastest-growing HCV epidemics globally. While individual risk factors for infection are understood, less is known about network and spatial factors critical for elimination strategies. Two thousand five hundred twelve PWID in New Delhi, India, were recruited (2017-19) through network referrals.

Need for informed providers: exploring LA-PrEP access in focus groups with PrEP-indicated communities in Baltimore, Maryland.

Background: The approval of long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis PrEP (LA-PrEP) in the United States brings opportunities to overcome barriers of oral PrEP, particularly among sexual and gender minority communities who bear a higher HIV burden. Little is known about real-time decision-making among potential PrEP users of LA-PrEP post-licensure.

Methods: We held focus group discussions with people assigned male at birth who have sex with men in Baltimore, Maryland to explore decision-making, values, and priorities surrounding PrEP usage.

HIV-1 low-level viraemia predicts virological failure in first-line and second-line ART-experienced individuals in India: A retrospective longitudinal study.

Objective: To study the prevalence of low-level viraemia (LLV) and its association with virological failure (VF).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 3498 participants at YRG CARE, Chennai, India (2013-2018) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for ≥6 months with two or more plasma viral load (pVL) measurements. Results were stratified for those with pVL <1000 copies/mL: fully suppressed (FS) (pVL <40), low-LLV (pVL 40-199), mid-LLV (pVL 200-399), and high-LLV (pVL 400-999).

Injection network drivers of HIV prevention service utilization among people who inject drugs: results of a community-based sociometric network cohort in New Delhi, India.

Introduction: Injection drug networks may influence their network members' health-seeking behaviours. Using data from a sociometric injecting partner network of people who inject drugs (PWID) in New Delhi, India, we assessed the role of injecting partner (alter) behaviours on individual engagement in HIV prevention services.

Methods: We enumerated injecting partner linkages among 2512 PWID using coupon referrals and biometric data from November 2017 to March 2020.

Voucher incentives to improve viral suppression among HIV-positive people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men in India: a cluster randomised trial.

Background: Progress on HIV treatment outcomes for people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men in India has been slow compared with that in other populations. We assessed whether HIV treatment incentives would improve outcomes among these groups.

Methods: We did a matched-pair, cluster randomised trial in 16 sites (eight for people who inject drugs and eight for men who have sex with men) across 15 cities in India.

High prevalence of hepatitis B virus among MSM living with HIV in India.

People living with HIV (PWH) have been shown to bear a higher burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) due to shared routes and risk factors for transmission. Populations such as men who have sex with men (MSM) are at an increased risk of both being infected with HBV and HIV, that places them at higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Using weighted and adjusted multilevel logistic regression, we characterized the prevalence and correlates of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) among MSM living with HIV across 12 Indian cities from 2012 to 2013.

Cumulative violence exposures among men who have sex with men living with HIV in India: Psychosocial correlates of HIV care continuum outcomes.

Lifetime exposures to violence among men who have sex with men (MSM) are associated with multiple psychosocial health risks and can affect engagement and outcomes of HIV treatment. This study a) explored relationships between levels of exposures to violence and HIV care continuum outcomes among MSM living with HIV in India, and b) identified psychosocial correlates of HIV care continuum outcomes among MSM living with HIV and those with lifetime cumulative exposures to violence (CVE). CVE referred to exposures to violence in both childhood and adulthood.

Network centrality and HIV prevention service use among people who inject drugs: Findings from a sociometric network cohort in New Delhi, India.

Background And Aims: Network centrality, an indicator of an individual's importance and potential to drive behavioral change, is rarely used to select peer educators. Individual-level predictors of network centrality might be useful to identify people who inject drugs (PWID) for potential roles as peer navigators or change agents in network-based interventions in settings where sociometric data are unavailable. We assessed the relationship between network centrality and HIV prevention service engagement to determine whether centrally-positioned PWID share measurable commonalities.

Exploring multilevel determinants of co-occurring violence, HIV, mental health and substance use problems.

Multiple factors contribute to co-occurring issues such as violence, HIV, and mental disorders among people who inject drugs (PWID), particularly those residing in limited resource settings. Using an ecological framework, this study explored multilevel determinants of co-occurring violence, HIV, mental health, and substance use issues among PWID. Data were collected via semi-structured in-depth interviews with 31 men and women PWID in India.

Fine scale human mobility changes within 26 US cities in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with distance and income.

Human mobility patterns changed greatly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite many analyses investigating general mobility trends, there has been less work characterising changes in mobility on a fine spatial scale and developing frameworks to model these changes. We analyse zip code-level within-city mobility data from 26 US cities between February 2 -August 31, 2020.

Respondent-driven sampling is more efficient than facility-based strategies at identifying undiagnosed people who inject drugs living with HIV in India.

Introduction: Injection drug use drives HIV epidemics in many low-resource settings, yet many people who inject drugs (PWID) living with HIV are not diagnosed. We assessed the ability of respondent-driven sampling (RDS) - which uses peer network connections - to identify undiagnosed PWID living with HIV compared to a facility-based strategy in India.

Methods: In six Indian cities from 2014 to 2017, integrated care centers (ICCs) provided HIV testing.

Integration of a geospatially targeted community-based testing approach with respondent-driven sampling to identify people who inject drugs living with HIV and HCV in Patti and Gorakhpur, India.

Background: Respondent-driven sampling (RDS), a network recruitment approach, is effective at reaching people who inject drugs (PWID), but other strategies may be needed to reach PWID at risk or living with HIV and/or Hepatitis C (HCV). We examined the impact of integrating geospatially targeted community-based HIV/HCV testing with an RDS survey.

Methods: PWID were recruited between 2019 and 2021 in Patti and Gorakhpur, India, in a two-phased approach for identifying PWID living with HIV/HCV.

A Mixture Model for Estimating SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence in Chennai, India.

Serological assays used to estimate the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) often rely on manufacturers' cutoffs established on the basis of severe cases. We conducted a household-based serosurvey of 4,677 individuals in Chennai, India, from January to May 2021. Samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins.