Background ART is typically begun weeks after HIV diagnosis. We assessed the acceptability, feasibility, safety and efficacy of initiating ART on the same day as diagnosis. Methods We studied a clinic-based cohort consisting of consecutive patients who were referred with new HIV diagnosis between June 2013 and December 2014. A subset of patients with acute or recent infection (<6 months) or CD4<200 were managed according to a “RAPID” care initiation protocol. An intensive, same-day appointment included social needs assessment; medical provider evaluation; and a first ART dose offered after labs were drawn. Patient acceptance of ART, drug toxicities, drug resistance and time to viral suppression outcomes were compared between RAPID participants and contemporaneous patients (who were not offered the program), as well as with an historical cohort. Results Among 86 patients, 39 were eligible and managed on the RAPID protocol. 37 (94.9%) of 39 in RAPID began ART within 24 hours. Minor toxicity with the initial regimen occurred in two (5.1%) of intervention patients versus none in the non-intervention group. Loss to follow-up was similar in intervention (10.3%) and non-intervention patients (14.9%) during the study. Time to virologic suppression (<200 copies HIV RNA/mL) was significantly faster (median 1.8 months) among intervention-managed patients when compared with patients treated in the same clinic under prior recommendations for universal ART (4.3 months; p=0.0001). Conclusions Treatment for HIV infection can be started on the day of diagnosis without impacting the safety or acceptability of ART. Same-day ART may shorten the time to virologic suppression.
Objective: Little is known about long-term viral suppression rates for patients who start antiretroviral therapy (ART) soon after diagnosis. We describe virologic outcomes from the San Francisco-based Ward 86 Rapid ART Program for Individuals with an HIV Diagnosis (RAPID) ART program. Design: Retrospective review of clinic-based cohort. Methods: In 2013, Ward 86 adopted immediate ART at the first visit after HIV diagnosis. Patients were referred from testing sites, offered same or next-day intakes, and received multidisciplinary evaluation, support, and insurance enrollment/optimization. Patients were provided ART starter packs and close follow-up. Demographics and labs were extracted from medical records. Subsequent viral loads were obtained from public health surveillance data. Kaplan-Meier curves summarized distribution of times to first viral suppression; viral suppression rates at last viral load recorded were calculated. Results: Of 225 patients referred to RAPID ART from 2013 to 2017, 216 (96%) were started on immediate-ART: median age 30; 7.9% women; 11.6% African-American, 26.9% Hispanic, 36.6% white; 51.4% with substance use; 48.1% with mental health diagnoses; 30.6% unstably housed; baseline median CD4 + cell count 441 cells/μl median viral load 37011. By 1 year after intake, 95.8% achieved viral suppression to less than 200 cells/μl at least once. Over a median follow-up time of 1.09 years (0-3.92), 14.7% of patients had viral rebound, but most (78%) resuppressed. Viral suppression rates were 92.1% at last recorded viral load.
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