Background
To examine the yield of HIV partner services provided to persons
newly diagnosed with acute and early HIV infection (AEH) in San Diego,
United States.
Design
Observational cohort study.
Methods
The study investigated the yield (i.e. number of new HIV and AEH
diagnoses, genetically linked partnerships, and high risk uninfected
partners) of partner services (confidential contact tracing) for individuals
with AEH enrolled in the San Diego Primary Infection Resource Consortium
1996 - 2014.
Results
A total of 107 of 574 persons with AEH (19%; i.e. index cases)
provided sufficient information to recruit 119 sex partners. Fifty seven
percent of the 119 recruited partners were HIV infected, and 33% of the 119
were newly HIV diagnosed. Among those newly HIV diagnosed, 36% were
diagnosed during AEH. There were no significant demographic or behavioral
risk differences between HIV infected and uninfected recruited partners.
Genetic sequences were available for both index cases and partners in 62
partnerships, of which 61% were genetically linked. Partnerships in which
both index case and partner enrolled within 30 days were more likely to
yield a new HIV diagnosis (p=0.01) and to be genetically linked
(p<0.01).
Conclusion
PS for persons with AEH within 30 days of diagnosis represents an
effective tool to find HIV unaware persons, including those with AEH who are
at greatest risk of HIV transmission.