Objective-Evaluate the feasibility, fidelity, and effectiveness of an HIV prevention intervention delivered to HIV-infected patients by counselors during routine clinical care in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.Methods-Total of 152 HIV-infected patients, aged 18 years and older, receiving clinical care at an urban hospital in South Africa, were randomly assigned to intervention or standard-of-care control counselors. Intervention counselors implemented a brief risk reduction intervention at each clinical encounter to help patients reduce their unprotected sexual behavior. Self-report questionnaires were administered at baseline and 6 months to assess number of unprotected sex events in previous 3 months.Results-Intervention was delivered in 99% of routine patient visits, and included a modal 8 of 8 intervention steps. Although HIV-infected patients in both conditions reported more vaginal and anal sex events at 6-month follow-up than at baseline, patients who received the counselor-delivered intervention reported a significant decrease over time in number of unprotected sexual events. There

Summary Background Mortality within the first 6 months after initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) is common in resource-limited settings and is often due to tuberculosis (TB) among patients with advanced HIV disease. Isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) is recommended in HIV-infected adults, but sub-clinical TB can be difficult to diagnose. We hypothesized that empiric TB treatment would reduce early mortality compared to IPT in high-burden settings. Methods We conducted a multi-country randomized clinical trial comparing empiric TB therapy (Empiric) vs. isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) in HIV-infected outpatients initiating ART with CD4 counts <50 cells/mm3. Individuals were screened for TB using a symptom screen, locally available diagnostics, and the GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay when available. The primary endpoint was survival (death or unknown status) at 24 weeks post randomization. Kaplan Meier estimates of the endpoint rates across arms were compared by the z-test. Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01380080). Findings From October 31, 2011 until June 9, 2014, we randomized 850 participants (424 in Empiric arm and 426 in IPT arm); the median CD4 count at baseline was 18 cells/mm3 (IQR: 9, 32). At week 24, each arm had 22 primary endpoints, for rates of 5.2% in each arm (95% CI: 3.5% to 7.8% for Empiric and 3.4% to 7.8% for IPT; absolute risk difference of -0.06% (95% CI: −3.05% to 2.94%). Grade 3 or 4 signs or symptoms occurred in 50 (12%) in the Empiric arm and 46 (11%) in the IPT arm. Grade 3 or 4 laboratory abnormalities occurred in 99 (23%) in the Empiric arm and 97 (23%) in the IPT arm. Incident TB was more common in the Empiric arm (31 vs. 18 events, p=0.01). Interpretation Empiric TB therapy did not reduce mortality at 24 weeks in outpatient adults initiating ART with advanced HIV disease. The low mortality rate of the trial supports implementation of systematic TB screening and IPT in outpatients with advanced HIV disease.

We assessed the incidence and predictors of unprotected sex among 152 HIV-positive patients in clinical care in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Nearly 50% were sexually active; 30% of those reported unprotected sex. Alcohol use during sex, reporting forced sex, sex with a perceived HIV-positive partner, and sex with a casual partner predicted more unprotected sex, whereas HIV status disclosure was related to less unprotected sex. These findings highlight the need for linking HIV prevention and care in Africa.

Background Women progress to death at the same rate as men despite lower plasma HIV RNA (VL). We investigated sex-specific differences in immune activation and inflammation as a potential explanation. Methods Inflammatory and immune activation markers (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18, IP-10, CRP, LPS, sCD14) were measured at weeks 0, 24, and 48 post-cART in a random subcohort (n=215) who achieved virologic suppression in ACTG A5175 (PEARLS). Association between sex and changes in markers post-cART was examined using random effects models. Average marker differences and 95%CI were estimated using multivariable models. Results At baseline, women had lower median log10VL (4.93 vs 5.18 copies/mL, p=0.01), CRP (2.32 vs 4.62 mg/L, p=0.01), detectable LPS (39% vs 55%, p=0.04), and sCD14 (1.9 vs 2.3 mcg/mL, p=0.06) versus men. By week 48, women had higher IFN-γ (22.4 vs 14.9 pg/mL, p=0.05), TNF-α (11.5 vs 9.5 pg/mL, p=0.02), and CD4 (373 vs 323 cells/mm3, p=0.02). In multivariate analysis, women had greater increases in CD4 and TNF-α but less of a decrease in CRP and sCD14 compared to men. Conclusions With cART-induced viral suppression, women have less reduction in key markers of inflammation and immune activation compared with men. Future studies should investigate the impact of these sex-specific differences on morbidity and mortality.