Digital Visual Communication for Public Health: Design Proposal for a Vaccinated Emoji.

In the 21st century, the internet and particularly social media have become essential platforms for the spread of health information (including misinformation and disinformation). One of the distinguishing features of communication on these platforms is the widespread use of emojis. Though seemingly trivial emojis are now used by many if not most public health figures and organizations alongside important health updates. Much of that information has had to do with vaccination. Vaccines are a critical public health tool but one surrounded by falsehoods, phobias, and misinformation fueling vaccine hesitancy. Part of that has to do with their lack of positive representation on social media (eg, the syringe emoji is a plain needle, which for many people is an uncomfortable image). We thus argue that vaccination deserves an entirely new emoji to communicate vaccine confidence and discuss a design proposal for a vaccinated emoji that has gained traction in the global public health community.

AIDS Therapy Evaluation in the Netherlands (ATHENA) national observational HIV cohort: cohort profile.

PURPOSE: In 1998, the AIDS Therapy Evaluation in the Netherlands (ATHENA) national observational HIV cohort was established to demonstrate the lifesaving effectiveness of triple combination antiretroviral therapy, including HIV-protease inhibitors, that had recently been made available for clinical use. Subsequently, the HIV Monitoring Foundation was established by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport to continue ATHENA as an open cohort in order to continue the registration and monitoring of all HIV-positive people as an integral part of HIV care in all 26 HIV treatment centres in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: To date, a total of 25 036 participants have been enrolled in the cohort, with 263 600 person-years of follow-up. As of 1 January 2017, 19 035 HIV-1-positive participants were known to be in care: 18 824 adults (81% men and 19% women) and 211 children (47% boys and 53% girls). The remaining 6001 participants had either died (46%), were lost to care (29%) or had moved abroad (25%). FINDINGS TO DATE: Today, with over 20 years of follow-up, the ATHENA cohort has provided extensive knowledge on HIV treatment, comorbidities and coinfections and created insight into the transmission dynamics of the HIV epidemic. FUTURE PLANS: ATHENA continues to enrol and monitor HIV positive people entering HIV care in the Netherlands. Future research will continue to provide tangible input into HIV care and prevention policies in the Netherlands and internationally.

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy for HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia: a comparative analysis of two regional cohorts.

INTRODUCTION: Our understanding of how to achieve optimal long-term adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in settings where the burden of HIV disease is highest remains limited. We compared levels and determinants of adherence over time between HIV-positive persons receiving ART who were enrolled in a bi-regional cohort in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. METHODS: This multicentre prospective study of adults starting first-line ART assessed patient-reported adherence at follow-up clinic visits using a 30-day visual analogue scale. Determinants of suboptimal adherence (<95%) were assessed for six-month intervals, using generalized estimating equations multivariable logistic regression with multiple imputations. Region of residence (Africa vs. Asia) was assessed as a potential effect modifier. RESULTS: Of 13,001 adherence assessments in 3934 participants during the first 24 months of ART, 6.4% (837) were suboptimal, with 7.3% (619/8484) in the African cohort versus 4.8% (218/4517) in the Asian cohort (p < 0.001). In the African cohort, determinants of suboptimal adherence were male sex (odds ratio (OR) 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.53; p = 0.009), younger age (OR 0.8 per 10 year increase; 0.8-0.9; p = 0.003), use of concomitant medication (OR 1.8, 1.0-3.2; p = 0.044) and attending a public facility (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.7; p = 0.004). In the Asian cohort, adherence was higher in men who have sex with men (OR for suboptimal adherence 0.6, 95% CI 0.4-0.9; p = 0.029) and lower in injecting drug users (OR for suboptimal adherence 1.6, 95% CI 0.9-2.6; p = 0.075), compared to heterosexuals. Risk of suboptimal adherence decreased with longer ART duration in both regions. Participants in low- and lower-middle-income countries had a higher risk of suboptimal adherence (OR 1.6, 1.3-2.0; p < 0.001), compared to those in upper-middle or high-income countries. Suboptimal adherence was strongly associated with virological failure, in Africa (OR 5.8, 95% CI 4.3-7.7; p < 0.001) and Asia (OR 9.0, 95% CI 5.0-16.2; p < 0.001). Patient-reported adherence barriers among African participants included scheduling demands, drug stockouts, forgetfulness, sickness or adverse events, stigma or depression, regimen complexity and pill burden. CONCLUSION: Psychosocial factors and health system resources may explain regional differences. Adherence-enhancing interventions should address patient-reported barriers tailored to local settings, prioritizing the first years of ART.

Performance and logistical challenges of alternative HIV-1 virological monitoring options in a clinical setting of Harare, Zimbabwe.

We evaluated a low-cost virological failure assay (VFA) on plasma and dried blood spot (DBS) specimens from HIV-1 infected patients attending an HIV clinic in Harare. The results were compared to the performance of the ultrasensitive heat-denatured p24 assay (p24). The COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 test, version 2.0, served as the gold standard. Using a cutoff of 5,000 copies/mL, the plasma VFA had a sensitivity of 94.5% and specificity of 92.7% and was largely superior to the VFA on DBS (sensitivity = 61.9%; specificity = 99.0%) or to the p24 (sensitivity = 54.3%; specificity = 82.3%) when tested on 302 HIV treated and untreated patients. However, among the 202 long-term ART-exposed patients, the sensitivity of the VFA decreased to 72.7% and to 35.7% using a threshold of 5,000 and 1,000 RNA copies/mL, respectively. We show that the VFA (either on plasma or on DBS) and the p24 are not reliable to monitor long-term treated, HIV-1 infected patients. Moreover, achieving acceptable assay sensitivity using DBS proved technically difficult in a less-experienced laboratory. Importantly, the high level of virological suppression (93%) indicated that quality care focused on treatment adherence limits virological failure even when PCR-based viral load monitoring is not available.