Work

Molecular HIV Surveillance: Beyond Cluster Detection and Response

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: There has been significant controversy surrounding the use of HIV sequence data to identify outbreaks of HIV transmission since the initiation of molecular HIV surveillance (MHS) in the US. The current approach to MHS is comprehensive cluster detection and response (CDR), in which clusters of related infections are identified and used as the basis for cluster-based or population-based interventions. With CDR, there are ethical and stigma concerns around the impingement of individual privacy, as well as legal concerns around the inference of transmission in regions where HIV criminalization laws and statutes exist. Here we propose an alternative approach to the analysis of HIV sequence and public health data that focuses on regions and populations rather than clusters, and still provides useful data for public health agencies.

Source: AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses

DOI: 10.1089/aid.2024.0084

Authors: Sanjay R. Mehta, Antoine Chaillon, Alan B. Wells, Susan J. Little

Institutions: Veterans Health Administration, University of California San Diego

Language: English

Topic: HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions

Subfield: Infectious Diseases

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases