A systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the time from HIV infection to diagnosis for people with HIV

Epigenetic aging in older people living with HIV in Eswatini: a pilot study of HIV and lifestyle factors and epigenetic aging

“…Descriptive statistics of participants included in this analysis ( n = 44) are provided in Table 1 . The median age (interquartile range [IQR]) was 59 [ 54 , 66 ] years, slightly more than half of the participants were female (24 participants [54%]), the average weight was 75 (66, 87) kg, and the highest education attainment for most participants was primary school (grades 1–7; 23 participants [52%]). Participants had a median age of 53 (47, 58) years when diagnosed with HIV and had been living with HIV since diagnosis for 7 (5, 9) years until the most recent visit when DNAm data were collected.…”

“…Regarding the significant association between the age at HIV diagnosis and Hannum-derived epigenetic aging, having acquired HIV at an older age, when inflammaging is likely already running its course, may further exacerbate the inflammatory effects of HIV on an already inflammatory milieu observed in the elderly [ 65 ], which may underlie the rapid functional decline and vulnerability to non-communicable diseases observed in OPLHIV. Likewise, a recent meta-analysis suggests the time between HIV infection and diagnosis is around 3 years [ 66 ]; however, this has been performed in high- and upper-middle-income countries and whether it is similar in lower-middle income countries, such as Eswatini, is not known, and may, in fact, be longer. This is critical, given that the longer time intervals between infection and diagnosis—where diagnosis would come with immediate ART treatment—is indispensable not only for prevention of transmission but for long-term disease management and strategies to combat age-related morbidity and premature mortality.…”

The differential impacts of early detection and accelerated antiretroviral therapy on the epidemiologic trend of sexually acquired HIV infection in Hong Kong

“…Direct comparison of the percentage of late presenters between the two cohorts (at 57.6% and 59.0% respectively) did not show any statistically significant difference. The phenomenon of late presentation was observed in other parts of the world [ 15 , 19 ] and one possible reason could be the persistent lack of awareness and stigmatization [ 27 , 28 ]. In Hong Kong where a majority of newly diagnosed HIV infection were sexually acquired, the problem of late presentation was higher among heterosexuals compared to MSM.…”

“…Indeed, studies showed that heterosexual transmission was associated with a higher risk (odds ratios 1.73-3.77) [11][12][13] of late presentation as compared with MSM, and this was observed consistently in different parts of the world [14][15][16] including Asia [17,18]. In addition, a recent systematic review reported that the problem of late presentation has not improved in seven countries from four continents since 2003 and until 2015 with the mean time between diagnosis and start of ART of 3.2 years [19].…”

Willingness to use and distribute HIV self-testing kits among people who inject drugs in the San Diego–Tijuana border region

“…In the USA, increasing rates of opioid and stimulant use are creating a volatile HIV risk environment for PWID [ 2 – 4 ]. At the same time, utilization of HIV prevention services among PWID, including HIV testing, remains suboptimal [ 5 – 8 ] and may have been further reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 9 , 10 ]. PWID face multilevel barriers to HIV testing, including HIV- [ 11 , 12 ] and addiction-related [ 13 , 14 ] stigma in healthcare settings and limited healthcare access due to homelessness, criminal justice involvement, and other structural factors [ 15 ].…”