Vaccine Hesitancy at Nine Community Sites Across the United States, Early in COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout.

Background: Vaccine hesitancy has been a significant concern throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy can be attributed to lack of confidence in vaccines, complacency about the health threat, or lack of convenience of vaccination. To date, few studies have used methods designed to include populations underrepresented in research when identifying factors associated with vaccine hesitancy.

Guidelines for tuberculosis screening and preventive treatment among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV in PEPFAR-supported countries.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment (TPT) is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for persons living with HIV, including pregnant and breastfeeding women. Given the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)'s investment in TPT services for persons living with HIV as a strategy to prevent TB as well as uncertainty in guidelines and policy regarding use of TPT during pregnancy and the postpartum period, we conducted a review of current relevant national guidelines among PEPFAR-supported countries.

Methods: Our review included 44/49 PEPFAR-supported countries to determine if TB screening and TPT are recommended specifically for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV (WLHIV).

Isoniazid preventive therapy completion between July-September 2019: A comparison across HIV differentiated service delivery models in Uganda.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains the leading cause of death among people living with HIV (PLHIV). To prevent TB among PLHIV, the Ugandan national guidelines recommend Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) across differentiated service delivery (DSD) models, an effective way of delivering ART. DSD models include Community Drug Distribution Point (CDDP), Community Client-led ART Delivery (CCLAD), Facility-Based Individual Management (FBIM), Facility-Based Group (FBG), and Fast Track Drug Refill (FTDR).

Integrating 3HP-based tuberculosis preventive treatment into Zimbabwe's Fast Track HIV treatment model: experiences from a pilot study.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) causes one-third of HIV-related deaths worldwide, making TB preventive treatment (TPT) a critical element of HIV programmes. Approximately 16% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) on antiretrovirals in Zimbabwe are enrolled in the Fast Track (FT) differentiated service delivery model, which includes multi-month dispensing of antiretrovirals and quarterly health facility (HF) visits. We assessed the feasibility and acceptability of utilizing FT to deliver 3HP (3 months of once-weekly rifapentine and isoniazid) for TPT by aligning TPT and HIV visits, providing multi-month dispensing of 3HP, and using phone-based monitoring and adherence support.

Tuberculosis care models for children and adolescents: a scoping review.

Objective: To map which tuberculosis care models are best suited for children and adolescents.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review to assess the impact of decentralized, integrated and family-centred care on child and adolescent tuberculosis-related outcomes, describe approaches for these care models and identify key knowledge gaps. We searched seven literature databases on 5 February 2021 (updated 16 February 2022), searched the references of 18 published reviews and requested data from ongoing studies.

Assessing the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model to Predict Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Adherence Among Black Men Who have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in a Community Setting in New York City.

The Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) Model has been used to understand adherence to medications and intentions to uptake pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection. In the current study, the IMB Model was used to understand factors that predict adherence to PrEP among a community-based cohort of 204 Black men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) using structural equation modeling. PrEP motivation was directly associated with PrEP behavioral skills (β = 0.

Paediatric tuberculosis preventive treatment preferences among HIV-positive children, caregivers and healthcare providers in Eswatini: a discrete choice experiment.

Objective: Isoniazid preventive therapy initiation and completion rates are suboptimal among children. Shorter tuberculosis (TB) preventive treatment (TPT) regimens have demonstrated safety and efficacy in children and may improve adherence but are not widely used in high TB burden countries. Understanding preferences regarding TPT regimens' characteristics and service delivery models is key to designing services to improve TPT initiation and completion rates.

Improving child tuberculosis contact identification and screening in Lesotho: Results from a mixed-methods cluster-randomized implementation science study.

Background: Child tuberculosis (TB) contact management is recommended for preventing TB in children but its implementation is suboptimal in high TB/HIV-burden settings. The PREVENT Study was a mixed-methods, clustered-randomized implementation study that evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of a community-based intervention (CBI) to improve child TB contact management in Lesotho, a high TB burden country.

Methods: Ten health facilities were randomized to CBI or standard of care (SOC).

Hazardous alcohol use, antiretroviral therapy receipt, and viral suppression in people living with HIV who inject drugs in the United States, India, Russia, and Vietnam.

Objectives: In high-income countries, hazardous alcohol use is associated with reduced receipt of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and viral suppression among people living with HIV (PLHIV) who inject drugs. These associations are less understood in lower middle-income countries (LMIC) and upper middle-income countries.

Design: We examined associations between hazardous alcohol use, ART receipt, and viral suppression among PLHIV who reported current or former injection drug use.

Provider attitudes about childhood tuberculosis prevention in Lesotho: a qualitative study.

Background: The World Health Organization estimated that 1.12 million children developed tuberculosis (TB) in 2018, and at least 200,000 children died from TB. Implementation of effective child contact management is an important strategy to prevent childhood TB but these practices often are not prioritized or implemented, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Determinants of alcohol use among people living with HIV initiating isoniazid preventive therapy in Ethiopia.

Background: Hepatotoxicity, an adverse effect of isoniazid preventative therapy (IPT), is exacerbated by alcohol consumption. Although the WHO recommends IPT for people living with HIV (PLHIV), it is contraindicated in regular alcohol users. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence and determinants of alcohol use among PLHIV initiating IPT in Ethiopia.

Factors Associated With Sex-Related Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Adherence Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in New York City in HPTN 067.

Background: HPTN 067 assessed the feasibility of daily and non-daily dosing of open-label emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (FTC/TDF)-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

Methods: Factors associated with sex-related PrEP adherence were assessed among men who have sex with men (MSM) randomized to one of 3 PrEP dosing arms in HPTN 067 in New York City. Sex-related PrEP adherence was defined per protocol as at least 1 PrEP tablet taken within 4 days pre-sex and at least 1 additional PrEP tablet taken within 24 hours post-sex, assessed via electronic drug monitoring and weekly interviews.

Response Rates of Medical Providers to Internet Surveys Regarding Their Adoption of Preexposure Prophylaxis for HIV: Methodological Implications.

In 2016 to 2017, we surveyed primary care providers (PCPs) in upper Manhattan and the South Bronx, New York, on their knowledge, attitudes, and practices surrounding preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV. Despite efforts to promote survey response, we were only able to obtain a meager response rate, limiting our ability to interpret results. In this short communication, we examine our survey's methodology, as well as the methods used by other similar studies, in order to suggest how certain strategies appear to influence PCP response to PrEP surveys.

Multiple strategies to identify HIV-positive black men who have sex with men and transgender women in New York City: a cross-sectional analysis of recruitment results.

Introduction: Black men who have sex with men and transgender women are at high risk for HIV infection, but are more likely to be unaware of their infection or not in care for diagnosed HIV compared to other races. Respondent driven sampling has been advanced as a method to reach stigmatized and hidden populations for HIV testing. We compared strategies to recruit black, substance-using men who have sex with men and transgender women to identify newly diagnosed HIV infection, or those previously diagnosed but not in care.

The Impact of Absolute CD4 Count and Percentage Discordance on Pneumocystis Jirovecii Pneumonia Prophylaxis in HIV-Infected Patients.

Current guidelines suggest that HIV-infected patients should receive chemoprophylaxis against Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) if they have a cluster determinant 4 (CD4) count <200 cells/mm or oropharyngeal candidiasis. Persons with CD4 percentage (CD4%) below 14% should also be considered for prophylaxis. Discordance between CD4 count and CD4% occurs in 16% to 25% of HIV-infected patients.

Tuberculosis Mortality in the United States: Epidemiology and Prevention Opportunities.

More information on risk factors for death from tuberculosis in the United States could help reduce the tuberculosis mortality rate, which has remained steady for more than a decade. To identify risk factors for tuberculosis-related death in adults. We performed a retrospective study of 1,304 adults with tuberculosis who died before treatment completion and 1,039 frequency-matched control subjects who completed tuberculosis treatment in 2005 to 2006 in 13 states reporting 65% of U.

Daily and Nondaily Oral Preexposure Prophylaxis in Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men: The Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention Trials Network 067/ADAPT Study.

Background: Nondaily dosing of oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) may provide equivalent coverage of sex events compared with daily dosing.

Methods: At-risk men and transgender women who have sex with men were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 dosing regimens: 1 tablet daily, 1 tablet twice weekly with a postsex dose (time-driven), or 1 tablet before and after sex (event-driven), and were followed for coverage of sex events with pre- and postsex dosing measured by weekly self-report, drug concentrations, and electronic drug monitoring.

Results: From July 2012 to May 2014, 357 participants were randomized.

The PREVENT study to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of a community-based intervention to prevent childhood tuberculosis in Lesotho: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Effective, evidence-based interventions to prevent childhood tuberculosis (TB) in high TB/HIV-burden, resource-limited settings are urgently needed. There is limited implementation of evidence-based contact management strategies, including isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT), for child contacts of TB cases in Lesotho.

Methods/design: This mixed-methods implementation science study utilizes a two-arm cluster-randomized trial design with randomization at the health facility level.

Sex, PrEP, and Stigma: Experiences with HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Among New York City MSM Participating in the HPTN 067/ADAPT Study.

The HPTN 067/Alternative Dosing to Augment Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Pill Taking (ADAPT) study evaluated daily and non-daily dosing schedules for oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV. A qualitative sub-study including focus groups and in-depth interviews was conducted among men who have sex with men participating in New York City to understand their experience with PrEP and study dosing schedules. The 37 sub-study participants were 68% black, 11% white, and 8% Asian; 27% were of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity.

Reaching the end of the line: Operational issues with implementing phone-based unannounced pill counts in resource-limited settings.

Introduction: Accurate measurement of adherence is necessary to ensure that therapeutic outcomes can be attributed to the recommended treatment. Phone-based unannounced pill counts were shown to be feasible and reliable measures of adherence in developed settings; and have been further used as part of medication adherence interventions. However, it is not clear whether this method can be implemented successfully in resource-limited settings, where cellular network and mobile phone coverage may be low.

Limited awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis among black men who have sex with men and transgender women in New York city.

Awareness of Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was assessed among a cohort of substance-using black men who have sex with men and transgender women (MSM/TGW) participating in the STAR Study, which recruited black MSM/TGW in New York City for HIV testing and linked HIV-infected individuals into care from July 2012 to April 2015. Sociodemographic, psychosocial, known HIV risk factors, and PrEP awareness were assessed among participants. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to assess factors associated with PrEP awareness.

Child contact management in high tuberculosis burden countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Considering the World Health Organization recommendation to implement child contact management (CCM) for TB, we conducted a mixed-methods systematic review to summarize CCM implementation, challenges, predictors, and recommendations. We searched the electronic databases of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies published between 1996-2017 that reported CCM data from high TB-burden countries.

The ENRICH Study to evaluate the effectiveness of a combination intervention package to improve isoniazid preventive therapy initiation, adherence and completion among people living with HIV in Ethiopia: rationale and design of a mixed methods cluster randomized trial.

Background: Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) prevents tuberculosis among HIV-positive individuals, however implementation is suboptimal. Implementation science studies are needed to identify interventions to address this evidence-to-program gap.

Objective: The ENRICH Study is a mixed methods cluster randomized trial aimed at evaluating the effectiveness and acceptability of a combination intervention package (CIP) to improve IPT implementation in Ethiopia.