The period during which HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) are potentially infectious fell significantly between 2007 and 2016, investigators from Australia report in the online edition of AIDS. Data from Melbourne Sexual Health Centre showed that the intervals between HIV infection and diagnosis, between diagnosis to viral suppression and between infection to viral suppression all fell significantly during the study period. The proportion of people with serological evidence of recent infection also more than doubled.
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Men with a history of injecting drug use, as well as individuals who had recently arrived in Australia from a non-English-speaking country, were less likely to be diagnosed promptly and to achieve rapid viral suppression. “This is significant because these groups have been identified as likely to experience delayed care,” comment the authors.
“The duration of infectiousness in MSM diagnosed with HIV at MSHC in Victoria has fallen dramatically between 2007 and 2016 and the proportion diagnosed with serological evidence of recent infection has significantly increased,” conclude the researchers. “This effect is across all population subgroups and marks a very positive milestone for the treatment as prevention paradigm.”