Misclassification of Loss to Care Among Persons With Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Improved Capture of Silent Transfers Through Surveillance Linkage Using Statewide Mandatorily Reported Laboratory Measures.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-positive individuals lost to follow-up from particular clinics may not be lost to care (LTC). After linking Vanderbilt's Comprehensive Care Clinic cohort to Tennessee's statewide HIV surveillance database, LTC decreased from 48.4% to 35.0% at 10 years. Routine surveillance linkage by domestic HIV clinics would improve LTC and retention measure accuracy.

The network structure of sex partner meeting places reported by HIV-infected MSM: Opportunities for HIV targeted control.

Baltimore, Maryland ranks among U.S. cities with the highest incidence of HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM). HIV screening at sex partner meeting places or venues frequented by MSM with new diagnoses and/or high HIV viral load may reduce transmission by identifying and linking infected individuals to care. We investigated venue-based clustering of newly diagnosed MSM to identify high HIV transmission venues. HIV surveillance data from MSM diagnosed between October 2012-June 2014 and reporting ≥1 sex partner meeting place were examined. Venue viral load was defined according to the geometric mean viral load of the cluster of cases that reported the venue and classified as high (>50,000 copies/mL), moderate (1500-50,000 copies/mL), and low (<1500 copies/mL). 143 MSM provided information on ≥1 sex partner meeting place, accounting for 132 unique venues. Twenty-six venues were reported by > 1 MSM; of these, a tightly connected cluster of six moderate viral load sex partner meeting places emerged, representing 66% of reports. Small, dense networks of moderate to high viral load venues may be important for targeted HIV control among MSM.