HIV antibody screening and ways to improve it to address the problem of containing the spread of HIV infection

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine the current trends in the development of the HIV epidemic process for individual subjects of the Ural Federal district (UFD) and the possibility of corrective measures to update the practice based on the results of screening tests for HIV antibodies.Materials and methods. The study used information from form 4 of the Federal statistical observation «Information on the results of blood tests for HIV antibodies» in the amount of 26,1 million studies for 2009–2018, information from 2,488 questionnaires from two biopsychological studies among commercial sex workers (CSR) and persons in prison. Research result. It was found that, despite the increase in the incidence of HIV infection in the period 2009–2018, the estimated Hurst indicator for the studied time period characterized the long-term dynamics of the incidence as antipersistent. Among MSM and patients with STIs, there is a marked tendency to increase the detection of HIV infection. Among commercial sex workers (CSR) and people in prison, the results of a sentinel bio-behavioral study found high detection of HIV antibodies against the background of risky sexual behavior.According to the indicators of the frequency of detection of antibodies to HIV in screening studies, the territories of the greatest potential risk of HIV infection were determined. In dynamics, there was an increase in the number of studies and the detection of HIV infection among those examined for clinical and epidemic indications (codes 113, 120) and stabilization of the detection of HIV infection among injecting drug users (code 102).Conclusion. In the period 2016–2018, the sexual route of infection became predominant among HIV-infected people. The greatest intensity of HIV infection was observed among such categories of the population covered by official statistics and who are representatives of groups with a predominant HIV infection, such as MSM and patients with STIs. At the same time, there was a decrease in HIV surveys among these populations with an increase in detection.The results of behavioral studies among DCS and persons in prison demonstrate high detection of HIV antibodies among them, as well as the presence of risky sexual behavior. Screening for HIV infection requires additional optimization.