A hybrid effectiveness/implementation trial of an evidence-based intervention for HIV-serodiscordant African American couples.

Couples-based behavioral HIV prevention interventions have demonstrated efficacy, but few are routinely available in community-based settings in the United States. The Eban intervention, designed for heterosexual African American serodiscordant couples and proven efficacious in a cluster randomized trial, was implemented in community-based HIV service organizations in two cities disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. This article reports primarily on the effectiveness results related to condom use and results related to retention challenges within a Hybrid Type 2 implementation/effectiveness trial. Ninety-one individuals enrolled at baseline; 39 completed the posttest, and 30 completed the 3-month follow-up. Although condom use did not monotonically increase from baseline to posttest and 3-month follow-up, it did increase from baseline (44%) to posttest (73%), and from baseline to 3-month follow-up with an overall positive slope of Time 0.13 to 0.14 (p < .001). There was a significant increase in the number of people who used condoms 100% of the time from baseline (36.3%) to posttest (56.4%; p = .04) but not from baseline to 3-month follow-up (46.7%; p = .2907). Challenges with resources as basic as housing, food, and transportation complicated participation (and therefore implementation) and may have impeded couples' maintenance of risk reduction strategies beyond the intervention. In light of couples' numerous observed vulnerabilities, we constructed a composite score of "critical vulnerability" and found that depression was persistently related to critical vulnerability and that retention was higher among those with less vulnerability. These findings highlight the important yet underaddressed role of patient-level factors in the process and outcomes of hybrid implementation/effectiveness research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Barriers to Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections among HIV-Serodiscordant Couples: The Influence of Discrimination.

Objectives: African Americans face challenges in accessing services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). From 2012-2016, the EBAN II intervention was funded by the NIH to test the effectiveness of implementing a culturally congruent, evidence-based HIV/AIDS prevention program in Los Angeles and Oakland, California. This study examined the impact of personal characteristics and experiences of discrimination on the likelihood of being tested for STIs. Methods: Participants (N=91) completed a baseline survey. Descriptive statistics were used to test for differences between those who did and did not obtain STI testing. Factors included HIV serostatus, sociodemographic variables, STI history, the presence of outside partners, and discrimination experiences. Multiple logistic regressions were conducted for men and women separately. Results: Participants with no recent experiences of discrimination were more than 3 (3.4) times more likely to obtain a baseline STI test than those who reported discrimination experiences. HIV-positive women with no recent experiences of discrimination were 11 times more likely than those with reports of recent discrimination to obtain STI tests. Conclusions: It is often women who are the gatekeepers for health seeking in families and the same may be for these couples. Experiences of discrimination may impede STI testing, and heighten several health risks, particularly among HIV-positive African American women in HIV-serodiscordant relationships. Addressing the impact of discrimination experiences may be important for STI prevention and treatment efforts in interventions promoting health care utilization.

Combining surveillance systems to investigate local trends in tuberculosis-HIV co-infection.

Alameda County has some of the highest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) case rates of California counties. We identified TB-HIV co-infected patients in 2002-2015 by matching county TB and HIV registries, and assessed trends in TB-HIV case rates and estimated prevalence ratios for HIV co-infection. Of 2054 TB cases reported during 2002-2015, 91 (4%) were HIV co-infected. TB-HIV case rates were 0.29/100,000 and 0.40/100,000 in 2002 and 2015, respectively, with no significant change (P = 0.85). African-American TB case-patients were 9.77 times (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.90-16.17) more likely than Asians to be HIV co-infected, and men 2.74 times (95% CI 1.66-4.51) more likely co-infected than women. HIV co-infection was more likely among TB case-patients with homelessness (6.21, 95% CI 3.49-11.05) and injection drug use (11.75, 95% CI 7.61-18.14), but less common among foreign-born and older case-patients (both P < 0.05). Among foreign-born case-patients, 42% arrived in the U.S. within 5 years of TB diagnosis. TB-HIV case rates were low and stable in Alameda County, and co-infected patients were predominantly young, male, U.S.-born individuals with traditional TB risk factors. Efforts to reduce TB-HIV burden in Alameda County should target persons with traditional TB risk factors and recently arrived foreign-born individuals.

A taxonomy of the scope and organization of local sexually transmitted disease services for policy and practice.

Local health departments (LHDs) and their organizational partners play a critical role in controlling sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States. We examine variation in the differentiation, integration, and concentration (DIC) of STD services and develop a taxonomy describing the scope and organization of local STD services. LHD STD programs (n = 115) in Alabama (AL) and California (CA) responded to surveys assessing STD services available in 2014. K-means cluster analysis identified LHD groupings based on DIC variation. Discriminant analysis validated cluster solutions. Differences in organizational partnerships and scope of STD services were compared by taxonomy category. Multivariable regression models estimated the association of the STD services organization taxonomy and five-year (2010­2014) gonorrhea incidence rates, controlling for county-level sociodemographics and resources. A three-cluster solution was identified: (1) low DIC (n = 74), (2) moderate DIC (n = 31), and (3) high DIC (n = 10). In discriminant analysis, 95% of jurisdictions were classified into the same types as originally assigned through K-means cluster analysis. High DIC jurisdictions were more likely (p < 0.001) to partner with most organizations than moderate and low DIC jurisdictions, and more likely (p < 0.001) to conduct STD needs assessment, comprehensive sex education, and targeted screening. In contrast, contact tracing, case management, and investigations were conducted similarly across jurisdictions. In adjusted analyses, there were no differences in gonorrhea incidence rates by category. Jurisdictions in CA and AL can be characterized into three distinct clusters based on the DIC of STD services. Taxonomic analyses may aid in improving the reach and effectiveness of STD services.

The RSVP Project: Factors Related to Disengagement From Human Immunodeficiency Virus Care Among Persons in San Francisco.

BACKGROUND: In the United States, an estimated two-thirds of persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection do not achieve viral suppression, including those who have never engaged in HIV care and others who do not stay engaged in care. Persons with an unsuppressed HIV viral load might experience poor clinical outcomes and transmit HIV. OBJECTIVE: The goal of the Re-engaging Surveillance-identified Viremic Persons (RSVP) project in San Francisco, CA, was to use routine HIV surveillance databases to identify, contact, interview, and reengage in HIV care persons who appeared to be out of care because their last HIV viral load was unsuppressed. We aimed to interview participants about their HIV care and barriers to reengagement. METHODS: Using routinely collected HIV surveillance data, we identified persons with HIV who were out of care (no HIV viral load and CD4 laboratory reports during the previous 9-15 months) and with their last plasma HIV RNA viral load >200 copies/mL. We interviewed the located persons, at baseline and 3 months later, about whether and why they disengaged from HIV care and the barriers they faced to care reengagement. We offered them assistance with reengaging in HIV care from the San Francisco Department of Public Health linkage and navigation program (LINCS). RESULTS: Of 282 persons selected, we interviewed 75 (26.6%). Of these, 67 (89%) reported current health insurance coverage, 59 (79%) had ever been prescribed and 45 (60%) were currently taking HIV medications, 59 (79%) had seen an HIV provider in the past year, and 34 (45%) had missed an HIV appointment in the past year. Reasons for not seeing a provider included feeling healthy, using alcohol or drugs, not having enough money or health insurance, and not wanting to take HIV medicines. Services needed to get to an HIV medical care appointment included transportation assistance, stable living situation or housing, sound mental health, and organizational help and reminders about appointments. A total of 52 (69%) accepted a referral to LINCS. Additionally, 64 (85%) of the persons interviewed completed a follow-up interview 3 months later and, of these, 62 (97%) had health insurance coverage and 47 (73%) reported having had an HIV-related care appointment since the baseline interview. CONCLUSIONS: Rather than being truly out of care, most participants reported intermittent HIV care, including recent HIV provider visits and health insurance coverage. Participants also frequently reported barriers to care and unmet needs. Health department assistance with HIV care reengagement was generally acceptable. Understanding why people previously in HIV care disengage from care and what might help them reengage is essential for optimizing HIV clinical and public health outcomes.

Invasive Obstetric Procedures and Cesarean Sections in Women With Known Herpes Simplex Virus Status During Pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal herpes is a potentially devastating infection that results from acquisition of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 or 2 from the maternal genital tract at the time of vaginal delivery. Current guidelines recommend (1) cesarean delivery if maternal genital HSV lesions are present at the time of labor and (2) antiviral suppressive therapy for women with known genital herpes to decrease HSV shedding from the genital tract at the time of vaginal delivery. However, most neonatal infections occur in infants born to women without a history of genital HSV, making current prevention efforts ineffective for this group. Although routine serologic HSV testing of women during pregnancy could identify women at higher risk of intrapartum viral shedding, it is uncertain how this knowledge might impact intrapartum management, and a potential concern is a higher rate of cesarean sections among women known to be HSV-2 seropositive. METHODS: To assess the effects of prenatal HSV-2 antibody testing, history of genital herpes, and use of suppressive antiviral medication on the intrapartum management of women, we investigated the frequency of invasive obstetric procedures and cesarean deliveries. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of pregnant women delivering at the University of Washington Medical center in Seattle, Washington. We defined the exposure of interest as HSV-2 antibody positivity or known history of genital herpes noted in prenatal records. The primary outcome was intrapartum procedures including fetal scalp electrode, artificial rupture of membranes, intrauterine pressure catheter, or operative vaginal delivery (vacuum or forceps). The secondary outcome was incidence of cesarean birth. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were performed. RESULTS: From a total of 449 women included in the analysis, 97 (21.6%) were HSV-2 seropositive or had a history of genital herpes (HSV-2/GH). Herpes simplex virus-2/GH women not using suppressive antiviral therapy were less likely to undergo intrapartum procedures than women without HSV-2/GH (odds ratio [OR], 0.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25-0.95; P = .036), but this relationship was attenuated after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.34-1.41; P = .31). There was no difference in intrapartum procedures for women on suppressive therapy versus women without HSV-2/GH (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.66-2.07; P = .60). Similar proportions of cesarean sections were performed within each group of women: 25% without history of HSV-2/GH, 30% on suppressive treatment, and 28.1% without suppressive treatment (global, P = .73). CONCLUSIONS: In this single-site study, provider awareness of genital herpes infection either by HSV serotesting or history was associated with fewer invasive obstetric procedures shown to be associated with neonatal herpes, but it was not associated with an increased rate of cesarean birth.

Regular clinic attendance in two large San Francisco HIV primary care settings.

Although poor clinic attendance is associated with increased morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected individuals, less is known about predictors of retention and the acceptability of targeted interventions to increase regular clinic attendance. To better understand which patients are at risk for irregular clinic attendance and to explore interventions to aid in retention to care, we surveyed patients attending two outpatient HIV clinics affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco. A total of 606 participants were surveyed, and the analysis was restricted to the 523 male respondents. Of this group, 45% (N = 299) reported missing at least one visit a year. Missing a clinic visit was associated with being African American (aOR = 1.99; 95%CI 1.12-3.52), being a man who has sex with both men and women (aOR=2.72; 95%CI 1.16-6.37), and reporting at least weekly methamphetamine use (aOR=5.79; 95%CI 2.47-13.57). Participants who reported a monthly income greater than $2000 were less likely to miss an appointment (aOR = 0.56; 95%CI 0.34-0.93). Regarding possible retention interventions, most patients preferred phone calls over other forms of support. These findings support the need for ongoing engagement support with particular attention to at-risk sub-groups.

Using HIV surveillance registry data to re-link persons to care: the RSVP Project in San Francisco.

BACKGROUND: Persons with unsuppressed HIV viral load (VL) who disengage from care may experience poor clinical outcomes and potentially transmit HIV. We assessed the feasibility and yield of using the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) enhanced HIV surveillance system (eHARS) to identify and re-engage such persons in care. METHODS: Using SFDPH eHARS data as of 4/20/2012 (index date), we selected HIV-infected adults who were alive, had no reported VL or CD4 cell count results in the past nine months (proxy for "out-of-care") and a VL >200 copies/mL drawn nine to 15 months earlier. We prioritized cases residing locally for investigation, and used information from eHARS and medical and public health databases to contact them for interview and referral to the SFDPH linkage services (LINCS). Twelve months later, we matched-back to eHARS data to assess how HIV laboratory reporting delays affected original eligibility, and if persons had any HIV laboratory results performed and reported within 12 months after index date ('new labs'). RESULTS: Among 434 eligible persons, 282 were prioritized for investigation, of whom 75 (27%) were interviewed, 79 (28%) could not be located, and 48 (17%) were located out of the area. Among the interviewed, 54 (72%) persons accepted referral to LINCS. Upon match-back to eHARS data, 324 (75%) in total were confirmed as eligible, including 221 (78%) of the investigated; most had new labs. CONCLUSIONS: Among the investigated persons presumed out-of-care, we interviewed and offered LINCS referral to about one-quarter, demonstrating the feasibility but limited yield of our project. Matching to updated surveillance data revealed that a substantial minority did not disengage from care and that most re-engaged in HIV care. Verifying persons' HIV care status with medical providers and improving timeliness of transfer and cross-jurisdictional sharing of HIV laboratory data may aid future efforts.

Linkage to HIV care in San Francisco: implications of measure selection.

In this article, we describe a process of the San Francisco collaboration to select optimal measures of linkage to care in response to the Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to understand the implications of measure selection and the challenges of accessing data sources to measure outcomes along the HIV care continuum. Challenges identified are the variety of definitions of linkage to care and the nonintegrative nature of the multiple data systems necessary to measure linkage to care and other continuum outcomes. The choice of linkage measures, which at the extremes is a choice between higher-resolution measures based on clinical visit data in a subset of patients vs. a lower-resolution proxy measure based on surveillance data, has key implications. Choosing between the options needs to be informed by the primary use of the measure. For representing trends in the overall performance and response to interventions, more generalizable measures based on surveillance data are optimal. For identifying barriers to linkage to care for specific populations and potential intervention targets within the linkage process, higher-resolution measures of linkage that include clinical, laboratory, and social work visit information are optimal. Cataloging the different data systems along the continuum and observations of challenges of data sharing between the systems highlighted the promise of integrated data management systems that span HIV surveillance and care systems. Such integrated data management systems would have the ability to support detailed investigation and would provide simplified data to match newly developed, cross-agency Health and Human Service measures of HIV care continuum outcomes.

Peripheral blood CD4 T-cell and plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) reactivity to herpes simplex virus 2 and pDC number do not correlate with the clinical or virologic severity of recurrent genital herpes.

Leukocytes participate in the immune control of herpes simplex virus (HSV). Data from HIV coinfections, germ line mutations, and case reports suggest involvement of CD4 T cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC). We investigated the relationships between these cells and recurrent genital herpes disease severity in the general population. Circulating CD4 T-cell responses to HSV-2 were measured in specimens from 67 immunocompetent individuals with measured genital lesion and HSV shedding rates. Similarly, pDC number and functional responses to HSV-2 were analyzed in 40 persons. CD4 responses and pDC concentrations and responses ranged as much as 100-fold between persons while displaying moderate within-person consistency over time. No correlations were observed between these immune response parameters and genital HSV-2 severity. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) coinfection was not correlated with differences in HSV-2-specific CD4 T-cell responses. The CD4 T-cell response to HSV-2 was much more polyfunctional than was the response to CMV. These data suggest that other immune cell subsets with alternate phenotypes or anatomical locations may be responsible for genital herpes control in chronically infected individuals.

Predictors of incident herpes simplex virus type 2 infections in young women at risk for unintended pregnancy in San Francisco.

BACKGROUND: Young women receiving family planning services are at risk for both unintended pregnancy and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis using data from a previously published randomized controlled trial evaluating access to emergency contraception on reproductive health outcomes. Women aged 15 to 24 years were recruited from two Planned Parenthood clinics and two community health clinics in San Francisco. Demographic information and sexual history were obtained by interview. HSV-2 seropositivity was determined by fingerstick blood test. New pregnancies were measured by self-report, urine testing and medical chart review. Subjects were evaluated for incident HSV-2 infection and pregnancy at a 6-month follow-up appointment. Women who were pregnant or intending to become pregnant at enrolment were excluded. RESULTS: At enrolment 2,104 women were screened for HSV-2 and 170 (8.1%) were seropositive. Eighty-seven percent of initially seronegative women completed the study (n = 1,672) and 73 (4.4%) became HSV-2 seropositive. HSV-2 seroincidence was 7.8 cases per 100 person-years. One hundred and seventeen women (7%) became pregnant and 7 (6%) of these had a seroincident HSV-2 infection during the study. After adjustment for confounders, predictors of incident HSV-2 infection were African American race and having multiple partners in the last six months. Condom use at last sexual encounter was protective. CONCLUSION: HSV-2 seroincidence and the unintended pregnancy rate in young women were high. Providers who counsel women on contraceptive services and sexually transmitted infection prevention could play an expanded role in counselling women about HSV-2 prevention given the potential sequelae in pregnancy. The potential benefit of targeted screening and future vaccination against HSV-2 needs to be assessed in this population.

"Street medicine": Collaborating with a faith-based organization to screen at-risk youths for sexually transmitted diseases.

Chlamydia and gonorrhea rates among African American youths in San Francisco are far higher than those among young people of the city's other racial and ethnic groups. A geographically targeted sexually transmitted disease education and screening intervention performed in collaboration with a local faith-based organization was able to screen hundreds of at-risk youths. The screened individuals included friends and sex partners from an extensive social-sexual network that transcended the boundaries of the target population. The intervention also provided an excellent opportunity to practice "street medicine," in which all screening and treatment was effectively conducted in the field.

Population-based community prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the urban poor of San Francisco.

The study objective was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for nasal colonization with Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin resistance among the urban poor and to compare antibiotic resistance and genetic similarity to concurrently collected clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). A population-based community sample of 833 homeless and marginally housed adults were cultured and compared with 363 clinical isolates of MRSA; 22.8% of the urban poor were colonized with S. aureus. Of S. aureus isolates, 12.0% were methicillin resistant. Overall prevalence of MRSA was 2.8%. Significant multivariate risk factors for MRSA were injection drug use (odds ratio [OR], 9.7), prior endocarditis (OR, 4.1), and prior hospitalization within 1 year (OR, 2.4). Resistance to antimicrobials other than beta-lactams was uncommon. Only 2 individuals (0.24%) with MRSA had no known risk factors. A total of 22 of 23 community MRSA genotypically matched clinical MRSA isolates, with 15 of 23 isolates identical to MRSA clones endemic among hospitalized patients.