National Research Agency on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS).

Although 2/4-ART met the predetermined criteria for noninferiority, the percentage of patients with <350 CD4 cells/mm(3) in the C-ART arm was lower than anticipated, which makes the clinical significance of this noninferiority uncertain. In addition, 2/4-ART led to an unacceptable additional risk of selecting for drug-resistant virus. This new argument against episodic ART strategies is also a caveat against any unplanned ART interruptions in Africa, where most patients receive NNRTIs.

Objective To estimate the probability of reaching the criteria for starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in a prospective cohort of adult HIV-1 seroconverters in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Methods We recruited participants from HIV-positive donors at the blood bank of Abidjan for whom the delay since the estimated date of seroconversion (midpoint between last negative and first positive HIV-1 test) was < 36 months. Participants were offered early trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (cotrimoxazole) prophylaxis, twice-yearly measurement of CD4 count and we made standardized records of morbidity. We used the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate the probability of reaching the criteria for starting HAART according to WHO 2006 guidelines. Findings 217 adults (77 women (35%)) were followed up during 668 person-years (PY). The most frequent diseases recorded were mild bacterial diseases (6.0 per 100 PY), malaria (3.6/100 PY), herpes zoster (3.4/100 PY), severe bacterial diseases (3.1/100 PY) and tuberculosis (2.1/100 PY). The probability of reaching the WHO 2006 criteria for HAART initiation was estimated at 0.09, 0.16, 0.24, 0.36 and 0.44 at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, respectively. Conclusion Our data underline the incidence of the early HIV morbidity in an Ivorian adult population and provide support for HIV testing to be made more readily available and for early follow-up of HIV-infected adults in West Africa.Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2007;85: 116-123. Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l'article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español. IntroductionExperts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) have estimated that at the end of 2005, 65% of the 39 million people with HIV worldwide were living in sub-Saharan Africa. 1 In Africa, only a small proportion of people who need highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) are currently being treated. However, the number who receive HAART has been increasing rapidly since 2004, and will continue to increase within the next few years thanks to national and international funds and initiatives.In 2003 and 2006, WHO experts defined criteria for initiating HAART in low-resource areas based on clinical criteria and, depending on the availability of laboratory facilities, either CD4 count or total lymphocyte count. Since cohort studies of patients from the time of HIV seroconversion are rare, little is known Methods PatientsRecruitment for the The Primo-CI ANRS 1220 prospective cohort started in 1997 in the HIV care clinic (FonSIDA clinic) of the Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine (CNTS), at the national blood bank of Abidjan.2 The study protocol was approved by the ethics committees of the national Ivorian program on AIDS and the institutional review board of the French Agency for Research on AIDS (ANRS).In the Côte d'Ivoire, blood donors are adult volunteers who are not paid. Blood donations are limited to five per year in men and four per year in women. ...

Introduction Since 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that all people living with HIV (PLHIV) initiate antiretroviral treatment (ART), irrespective of CD4+ count or clinical stage. National adoption of universal treatment has accelerated since WHO's 2015 “Treat All” recommendation; however, little is known about the translation of this guidance into practice. This study aimed to assess the status of Treat All implementation across regions, countries, and levels of the health care delivery system. Methods Between June and December 2017, 201/221 (91%) adult HIV treatment sites that participate in the global IeDEA research consortium completed a survey on capacity and practices related to HIV care. Located in 41 countries across seven geographic regions, sites provided information on the status and timing of site‐level introduction of Treat All, as well as site‐level practices related to ART initiation. Results Almost all sites (93%) reported that they had begun implementing Treat All, and there were no statistically significant differences in site‐level Treat All introduction by health facility type, urban/rural location, sector (public/private) or country income level. The median time between national policy adoption and site‐level introduction was one month. In countries where Treat All was not yet adopted in national guidelines, 69% of sites reported initiating all patients on ART, regardless of clinical criteria, and these sites had been implementing Treat All for a median period of seven months at the time of the survey. The majority of sites (77%) reported typically initiating patients on ART within 14 days of confirming diagnosis, with 60% to 62% of sites implementing Treat All in East, Southern and West Africa reporting same‐day ART initiation for most patients. Conclusions By mid‐ to late‐2017, the Treat All strategy was the standard of care at almost all IeDEA sites, including rural, primary‐level health facilities in low‐resource settings. While further assessments of site‐level capacity to provide high‐quality HIV care under Treat All and to support sustained viral suppression after ART initiation are needed, the widespread introduction of Treat All at the service delivery level is a critical step towards global targets for ending the HIV epidemic as a public health threat.

BackgroundHIV testing is crucial for starting ART earlier in HIV-infected people. We describe Missed Opportunities (MO) for HIV testing among adults newly diagnosed with HIV in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.MethodsBetween april,2nd 2013 and april 1st 2014, a cross-sectional study was conducted among all adults newly diagnosed (< 1year) for HIV at the Blood Donors Medical Center of Abidjan with face to face questionnaire. An MO for HIV testing was defined as a medical consultation for a clinical indicator (e.g. symptoms, hospitalization, and pregnancy) or a non-clinical indicator (e.g. high-risk sexual behavior, HIV-infected partner) potentially related to an HIV infection but did not lead to HIV test proposal by a health care professional.ResultsOf the 341 patients who attended the center suring this period, 273 (157 women and 116 men) were included in this analysis. 130 (47.6%) reported at least one medical consultation for an indicator relevant for a test proposal between 1 month and five years prior to their diagnosis. Among them, 92 (77.3%) experienced at least one MO for testing. The 273 included patients reported a total of 216 indicators; 146 (67.6%) were reported without test proposal and thus were MO. Hospitalization, extreme lose of weight, chronic or repeat fever and herpes zoster were the indicators with the largest number of MO. While 66 (24.2%) patients experienced non-clinical indicators relevant to risk of HIV infection, only 11 (4.0%) mentioned it to a health professional.ConclusionMO for HIV testing are frequent, even in situations for which testing is clearly recommended. Better train healthcare professionals and creating new opportunities of testing inside and, outside of medical settings are crucial to improve HIV control.

BACKGROUND: The residual risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission from blood products in the Abidjan National Blood Transfusion Center was estimated to be 1 in 5780 blood donations over the period 2002 through 2004. We aimed at describing risk behaviors in blood donors who seroconverted for HIV in Abidjan to improve the pre–blood donation selection. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We investigated the behavioral profile of HIV seroconverters assessed before their HIV diagnosis, during the blood donation selection at the blood bank of Abidjan, and compared it to the profile documented after this HIV diagnosis, at enrollment in the PRIMO‐CI cohort. Since 1997, enrollment in this cohort is offered to every blood donor whose delay since HIV seroconversion was 36 months or less. RESULTS: Among the 418 blood donors who seroconverted for HIV between 1997 and 2005, 241 were enrolled in the cohort. Median age was 28 years and 63% were men. The median time between the last HIV‐negative test and the first positive test was 7 months. Since the last blood donation, 29% of donors reported unprotected sexual intercourse with multiple casual sexual partners, 55% unprotected sexual intercourse with one casual sexual partner, and 36% sharing of nail clippers. During the pre–blood donation questionnaire, 69% of HIV seroconverters had reported unprotected sexual intercourse since the last blood donation (vs. 89% reported after donation), and 7% had had multiple casual sexual partners (vs. 32%). CONCLUSION: Volunteer blood donors who seroconverted for HIV in Abidjan reported a high proportion of unprotected sexual intercourse with casual sexual partners.

Despite precautions taken to guarantee blood safety, in the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) of Abidjan, about 30 regular blood donors are detected with HIV seroconversion each year, two-thirds of them men. A survey through face-to-face interviews was carried out at the CNTS of Abidjan from September 2001 to March 2002 among HIV-positive and HIV-negative regular blood donors, informed about their serologic status. HIV-negative regular blood donors informed about their serologic status since a median time of 67 months (n = 50) disclosed more risky behaviors such as multiple sexual partners (68%) than HIV-positive blood donors informed about their status (n = 112) since a median time of 35 months (41%) (P < 0.001). Condoms were systematically used by 17% of HIV-negative blood donors and 55% of HIV-positive blood donors (P < 0.001). Enhanced counseling and awareness could reduce in the future the number of cases of seroconversion among regular blood donors and improve their subsequent behavior. Blood donors who have unprotected sex with partners of unknown HIV serologic status and especially with casual partners are strongly exposed to HIV transmission and should be discouraged to continue giving blood, after adequate counseling.

BackgroundHepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) share common risk factors. The parallel description of their frequency over time may help capture their similarities and differences.MethodsUsing data from the National Transfusion Center of Abidjan, we estimated the following over a 20-year period: (1) the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity at first contact; and (2) the incidence of HIV and HBsAg seroconversion in negative first-time blood donors.ResultsBetween 1992 and 2012, 422319 donors (men [M] = 74%) provided 1063825 blood donations. For first-time donors, HIV prevalence decreased from 7.1% (M = 5.9%, women [W] =11.0%) in 1992–1994 to 1.1% (M = 0.8%, W = 2.0%) in 2010–2012. Prevalence of HBsAg positivity remained stable at 10.8% (M = 11.7%, W = 7.3%) in 1992–1994 to 11.1% (M = 12.5%, W = 7.1%) in 2010–2012. Among regular donors (N = 129256), the incidence of becoming HIV or HBsAg positive, respectively, decreased from 4.9 per 100 (M = 4.5, W = 8.6) and 7.3 per 100 person-years (M = 7.8, W = 2.3) in 1992–1994 to 0.07 (M = 0.06, W = 0.11) and 0.2 per 100 person-years (M = 0.2, W = 0.2) in 2010–2012.ConclusionsHuman immunodeficiency virus prevalence and incidence decreased dramatically over time, whereas HBV prevalence remained stable. Incidence of HBsAg seroconversion, although decreasing, still reached unexpected levels, suggesting that the risk of HBV infection in adults may be higher than expected. Hepatitis B surface antigen-negative blood-donors should be offered HBV vaccination.