Researchers analyzed data collected by the San Diego County Department of Public Health and the San Diego Primary Infection Cohort between 1996 and 2012 to identify chains of transmission. The researchers developed and implemented the Early Test program — a primary HIV screening program — in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego in 2007.
Under to program, researchers screened Hillcrest residents for HIV using nucleic acid and serology testing. This process can detect the virus in as little as seven to 10 days after exposure, rather than the several weeks or months required for other tests.
The study findings revealed 30 percent to 50 percent of the newly detected infections originated in recently infected individuals. Following implementation of the Early Test program, however, researchers observed a decrease in incident HIV diagnoses proportional to the number of primary HIV infections diagnosed in San Diego.
“These findings suggest that early HIV diagnoses by this primary infection screening program probably contributed to the observed decrease in new HIV diagnoses in San Diego, and they support the expansion and evaluation of similar programs,” the authors concluded.
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