Examining HIV care services resilient during COVID-19 pandemic

The HIV prevention and care service was resilient through the COVID-19 pandemic, and providers partially rebounded in quarter 3 (Q3) of 2020 following a decline in Q2, in accordance with analysis revealed within the Dec. 2 problem of the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Noting that the aim of the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic in america initiative is to lower new HIV infections by 90 % by 2030, Karen W. Hoover, M.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the impression of the COVID-19 pandemic on the usage of HIV prevention and care providers and HIV outcomes. Modifications in these measures had been assessed throughout 2019 to 2021.

The researchers discovered {that a} complete of two,471,614 HIV checks had been carried out, 190,955 individuals had been prescribed preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and eight,438 individuals obtained a analysis of HIV an infection throughout Q1 of 2020. Throughout Q2, there was a lower of 32, 6, and 26 % in HIV checks carried out, individuals prescribed PrEP, and individuals receiving an HIV analysis, respectively.

Throughout Q3, partial rebounds had been noticed. Through the research interval, the proportion of individuals linked to HIV care, quantity prescribed antiretroviral remedy, and proportion with a suppressed viral load check amongst these examined remained secure.

“The HIV prevention and care service system was resilient through the COVID-19 pandemic,” the authors write. “Though HIV testing and PrEP providers had been disrupted within the spring of 2020, these providers began to rebound by summer season 2020.”