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Partner services program helped identify HIV cases among MSM
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A partner services program in North Carolina identified 39 people with HIV infection among the partners of newly diagnosed black men who have sex with men, according to a recent report.
In the program, 30 black MSM with HIV named 95 sex partners and social contacts, and 39 of those (41%) had previously been diagnosed with HIV.
“Engaging in care and achieving viral suppression is a multistep process that starts with diagnosis,” researchers from the CDC and University of North Carolina wrote in MMWR. “Diagnosing persons unaware of their HIV status traditionally has been a critical component of HIV partner services, but partner services also provide an important opportunity to re-engage HIV-infected partners in medical care.”
Screening Targeted Populations to Interrupt Ongoing Chains of HIV Transmission with Enhanced Partner Notification (STOP) is an ongoing prospective study taking place at 12 HIV testing sites to evaluate HIV infection diagnosis linked to partner services. When participants test positive for HIV, they are offered notification services for sex partners and social contacts the patients believe are at high risk for HIV. The partners and contacts are then offered HIV testing.
From September 2011 to December 2012, 30 black MSM in North Carolina received partner notification services. Among the 95 partners/contacts notified, 39 had recently been diagnosed with an HIV infection. Another 29 partners/contacts accepted an HIV test and two of those were newly diagnosed with HIV. Sex partners were not more likely to be HIV-positive than social contacts. When considering only sex partners, 18 of the 30 index patients had at least one HIV-positive sex partner.
HIV pol gene sequences were available for the 30 index patients and phylogenetic analyses indicated four clusters, including eight of the index patients. The largest network included 23 black MSM connected by 20 sexual relationships, one social contact and one molecular phylogenetic link. Fifteen of these MSM had HIV. However, the researchers said the networks are based on self-report and do not include all people involved.
“This report does, however, demonstrate the high risk for potential future HIV transmissions within these networks and suggests that a partner services intervention to re-engage partners with previously diagnosed HIV infection in HIV medical care might be an effective prevention strategy in this setting.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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