Public Health Response to Clusters of Rapid HIV Transmission Among Hispanic or Latino Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men - Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, 2021-2022.

During February 2021-June 2022, the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH) detected five clusters of rapid HIV transmission concentrated among Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in metropolitan Atlanta. The clusters were detected through routine analysis of HIV-1 nucleotide sequence data obtained through public health surveillance (1,2). Beginning in spring 2021, GDPH partnered with health districts with jurisdiction in four metropolitan Atlanta counties (Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett) and CDC to investigate factors contributing to HIV spread, epidemiologic characteristics, and transmission patterns. Activities included review of surveillance and partner services interview data,† medical chart reviews, and qualitative interviews with service providers and Hispanic MSM community members. By June 2022, these clusters included 75 persons, including 56% who identified as Hispanic, 96% who reported male sex at birth, 81% who reported male-to-male sexual contact, and 84% of whom resided in the four metropolitan Atlanta counties. Qualitative interviews identified barriers to accessing HIV prevention and care services, including language barriers, immigration- and deportation-related concerns, and cultural norms regarding sexuality-related stigma. GDPH and the health districts expanded coordination, initiated culturally concordant HIV prevention marketing and educational activities, developed partnerships with organizations serving Hispanic communities to enhance outreach and services, and obtained funding for a bilingual patient navigation program with academic partners to provide staff members to help persons overcome barriers and understand the health care system. HIV molecular cluster detection can identify rapid HIV transmission among sexual networks involving ethnic and sexual minority groups, draw attention to the needs of affected populations, and advance health equity through tailored responses that address those needs.

Baseline HIV drug-resistance testing: 12 US jurisdictions, 2014-2019.

OBJECTIVE: To understand recent patterns in reported baseline HIV drug-resistance testing over time in the United States. DESIGN: Data from the National HIV Surveillance System for persons who were aged at least 13 years at the time of HIV diagnosis during 2014-2019 and resided in one of 12 US jurisdictions with high levels of reporting in 2014 and 2015. METHODS: Among persons included in the analysis, we calculated the total proportion of HIV diagnoses occurring during 2014-2019 with a reported baseline sequence by year of diagnosis and sequence type. A baseline sequence was defined as any protease/ reverse transcriptase (PR/RT) or integrase sequence generated from a specimen collected 90 days or less after diagnosis. RESULTS: During 2014-2019, reported levels of baseline PR/RT (with or without integrase) testing varied by year from 46.9% to 51.8% without any clear pattern over time. PR/RT with integrase testing increased (8.3-19.4%) and integrase-only testing remained low (1.9-1.3%). CONCLUSION: While reported levels of baseline PR/RT (with or without integrase) testing have remained sufficiently high for the purposes of molecular cluster detection, higher levels would strengthen jurisdictions' and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's ability to monitor trends in HIV drug-resistance and detect and respond to HIV molecular clusters. Efforts to increase levels of reported baseline testing likely need to address both gaps in testing as well as reporting.

The CDC HIV Outbreak Coordination Unit: Developing a Standardized, Collaborative Approach to HIV Outbreak Assessment and Response.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state, territorial, and local health departments have expanded efforts to detect and respond to HIV clusters and outbreaks in the United States. In July 2017, CDC created the HIV Outbreak Coordination Unit (OCU) to ensure consistent and collaborative assessment of requests from health departments for consultation or support on possible HIV clusters and outbreaks of elevated concern. The HIV OCU is a multidisciplinary, cross-organization functional unit within CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. HIV OCU members have expertise in areas such as outbreak detection and investigation, prevention, laboratory services, surveillance and epidemiology, policy, communication, and operations. HIV OCU discussions facilitate problem solving, coordination, and situational awareness. Between HIV OCU meetings, designated CDC staff members communicate regularly with health departments to provide support and assessment. During July 2017-December 2019, the HIV OCU reviewed 31 possible HIV clusters and outbreaks (ie, events) in 22 states that were detected by CDC, health departments, or local partners; 17 events involved HIV transmission associated with injection drug use, and other events typically involved sexual transmission or overall increases in HIV diagnoses. CDC supported health departments remotely or on site with planning and prioritization; data collection, management, and analysis; communications; laboratory support; multistate coordination; and expansion of HIV prevention services. The HIV OCU has augmented CDC's support of HIV cluster and outbreak assessment and response at health departments and had important internal organizational benefits. Health departments may benefit from developing or strengthening similar units to coordinate detection and response efforts within and across public health agencies and advance the national Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative.

Demographic, clinical, and epidemiologic characteristics of persons under investigation for Coronavirus Disease 2019-United States, January 17-February 29, 2020.

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), evolved rapidly in the United States. This report describes the demographic, clinical, and epidemiologic characteristics of 544 U.S. persons under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19 with complete SARS-CoV-2 testing in the beginning stages of the pandemic from January 17 through February 29, 2020. METHODS: In this surveillance cohort, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided consultation to public health and healthcare professionals to identify PUI for SARS-CoV-2 testing by quantitative real-time reverse-transcription PCR. Demographic, clinical, and epidemiologic characteristics of PUI were reported by public health and healthcare professionals during consultation with on-call CDC clinicians and subsequent submission of a CDC PUI Report Form. Characteristics of laboratory-negative and laboratory-positive persons were summarized as proportions for the period of January 17-February 29, and characteristics of all PUI were compared before and after February 12 using prevalence ratios. RESULTS: A total of 36 PUI tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were classified as confirmed cases. Confirmed cases and PUI testing negative for SARS-CoV-2 had similar demographic, clinical, and epidemiologic characteristics. Consistent with changes in PUI evaluation criteria, 88% (13/15) of confirmed cases detected before February 12, 2020, reported travel from China. After February 12, 57% (12/21) of confirmed cases reported no known travel- or contact-related exposures. CONCLUSIONS: These findings can inform preparedness for future pandemics, including capacity for rapid expansion of novel diagnostic tests to accommodate broad surveillance strategies to assess community transmission, including potential contributions from asymptomatic and presymptomatic infections.

Missed Opportunities for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Testing During Injection Drug Use-Related Healthcare Encounters Among a Cohort of Persons Who Inject Drugs With HIV Diagnosed During an Outbreak-Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, 2017-2018.

BACKGROUND: Persons who inject drugs (PWID) have frequent healthcare encounters related to their injection drug use (IDU) but are often not tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We sought to quantify missed opportunities for HIV testing during an HIV outbreak among PWID. METHODS: PWID with HIV diagnosed in 5 Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky counties during January 2017-September 2018 who had ≥1 encounter 12 months prior to HIV diagnosis in 1 of 2 Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area healthcare systems were included in the analysis. HIV testing and encounter data were abstracted from electronic health records. A missed opportunity for HIV testing was defined as an encounter for an IDU-related condition where an HIV test was not performed and had not been performed in the prior 12 months. RESULTS: Among 109 PWID with HIV diagnosed who had ≥1 healthcare encounter, 75 (68.8%) had ≥1 IDU-related encounters in the 12 months before HIV diagnosis. These 75 PWID had 169 IDU-related encounters of which 86 (50.9%) were missed opportunities for HIV testing and occurred among 46 (42.2%) PWID. Most IDU-related encounters occurred in the emergency department (118/169; 69.8%). Using multivariable generalized estimating equations, HIV testing was more likely in inpatient compared with emergency department encounters (adjusted relative risk [RR], 2.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.70-4.33) and at the healthcare system receiving funding for emergency department HIV testing (adjusted RR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.10-2.82). CONCLUSIONS: PWID have frequent IDU-related encounters in emergency departments. Enhanced HIV screening of PWID in these settings can facilitate earlier diagnosis and improve outbreak response.