Prevalence of undiagnosed acute and chronic HIV in a lower-prevalence urban emergency department

P.C. Moschella, K.W. Hart, A.H. Ruffner, C.J. Lindsell, D.B. Wayne, M.I. Sperling, A.T. Trott, C.J. Fichtenbaum and M.S. Lyons

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 9, 1695-1699

Abstract: Objectives. We estimated the seroprevalence of both acute and chronic HIV infection by using a random sample of emergency department (ED) patients from a region of the United States with low-to-moderate HIV prevalence. Methods. This cross-sectional seroprevalence study consecutively enrolled patients aged 18 to 64 years within randomly selected sampling blocks in aMidwestern urban ED in a region of lower HIV prevalence in 2008 to 2009. Participants were compensated for providing a blood sample and health information. After deidentification, we assayed samples for HIV antibody and nucleic acid. Results. There were 926 participants who consented and enrolled. Overall, prevalence of undiagnosed HIV was 0.76% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.30%, 1.56%). Three participants (0.32%; 95%CI = 0.09%, 0.86%)were nucleic acid-positive but antibody-negative and 4 (0.43%; 95% CI = 0.15%, 1.02%) were antibody-positive. Conclusions. Even when the absolute prevalence is low, a considerable proportion of undetected HIV cases in an ED population are acute. Identification of acuteHIV in ED settings should receive increased priority.

Keywords: Human immunodeficiency virus antibody, acute disease; adolescent; adult; article; blood; chronic disease; cross-sectional study; emergency health service; female; hospital; human; Human immunodeficiency virus infection; Human immunodeficiency virus prevalence; male; middle aged; prevalence; risk factor; statistics; United States; young adult, Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Chronic Disease; Cross-Sectional Studies; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; HIV Antibodies; HIV Infections; HIV Seroprevalence; Hospitals, Urban; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Risk Factors; United States; Young Adult (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.301953_9

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301953

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