Recent HIV Infection among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Tijuana

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/s1518-8787.2020054002179

Keywords:

HIV Infections, epidemiology, Sexual and Gender Minorities, Transgender Persons, Disease Transmission, Infectious

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To characterize recent HIV infections among newly diagnosed men who have sex with men and transgender women in Tijuana. METHODS: Limiting Antigen (LAg)-Avidity testing was performed to detect recent HIV infection within a cohort of newly-diagnosed men who have sex with men and transgender women in Tijuana. Logistic regression was used to determine characteristics associated with recent infection. A partial transmission network was inferred using HIV-1 pol sequences. Tamura-Nei 93 genetic distances were measured between all pairs of sequences, and the network was constructed by inferring putative transmission links (genetic distances ≤ 1.5%). We assessed whether recent infection was associated with clustering within the inferred network. RESULTS: Recent infection was detected in 11% (22/194) of newly-diagnosed participants. Out of the participants with sequence data, 60% (9/15) with recent infection clustered compared with 31% (43/139) with chronic infection. Two recent infections belonged to the same cluster. In adjusted analyses, recent infection was associated with years of residence in Tijuana (OR = 1.5; 95%CI 1.01–1.09), cocaine use (past month) (OR = 8.50; 95%CI 1.99–28.17), and ever experiencing sexual abuse (OR = 2.85; 95%CI 1.03–7.85). DISCUSSION: A total of 11% of men newly diagnosed with HIV who have sex with men and transgender women in Tijuana were recently infected. The general lack of clustering between participants with recent infection suggests continued onward HIV transmission rather than an outbreak within a particular cluster.

DESCRIPTORS: HIV Infections, epidemiology. Sexual and Gender Minorities. Transgender Persons. Disease Transmission, Infectious.

References

Attia S, Egger M, Muller MF, Zwahlen M, Low N. Sexual transmission of HIV according to viral load and antiretroviral therapy: systematic review and meta-analysis. AIDS. 2009;23(11):1397-404. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0b013e32832b7dca

Quinn TC, Wawer MJ, Sewankambo N, Serwadda D, Li C, Wabwire-Mangen F, et al. Viral load and heterosexual transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1. Rakai Project Study Group. N Engl J Med. 2000;342(13):921-9. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200003303421303

Wawer MJ, Gray RH, Sewankambo NK, Serwadda D, Li X, Laeyendecker, et al. Rates of HIV-1 transmission per coital act, by stage of HIV-1 infection, in Rakai, Uganda. J Infect Dis. 2005;191(9):1403-9. https://doi.org/10.1086/429411

Hollingsworth TD, Anderson RM, Fraser C. HIV-1 transmission, by stage of infection. J Infect Dis. 2008;198(5):687-93. https://doi.org/10.1086/590501

Pines HA, Wertheim JO, Liu L, Garfein RS, Little SJ, Karris MY. Concurrency and HIV transmission network characteristics among men who have sex with men with recent HIV. AIDS. 2016;30(18):2875-83. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0000000000001256

Nikolopoulos GK, Pavlitina E, Muth SQ, Schneider J, Psichogiou M, Williams LD, et al. A network intervention that locates and intervenes with recently HIV-infected persons: The Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP). Sci Rep. 2016;6:38100. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep38100

Pitpitan EV, Goodman-Meza D, Burgos JL, Abramovitz D, Chavarin CV, Torres K, et al. Prevalence and correlates of HIV among men who have sex with men in Tijuana, Mexico. J Int AIDS Soc. 2015;18(1):19304. https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.18.1.19304

Güereña-Burgueño F, Benenson AS, Sepúlveda Amor J. HIV-1 prevalence in selected Tijuana sub-populations. Am J Public Health. 1991;81(5):623-5. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.81.5.623

Rajasingham R, Mimiaga MJ, White JM, Pinkston MM, Baden RP, Mitty JA. A systematic review of behavioral and treatment outcome studies among HIV-infected men who have sex with men who abuse crystal methamphetamine. AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2012;26(1):36-52. https://doi.org/10.1089/apc.2011.0153

United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS. 90–90–90: an ambitious treatment target to help end the AIDS epidemic. Geneva: UNAIDS; 2014 [cited 2018 Oct 6]. Available from: http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/90-90-90_en.pdf

Cohen MS, Chen YQ, McCauley M, Gamble T, Hosseinipour MC, Kumarasamy N, et al. Prevention of HIV-1 infection with early antiretroviral therapy. N Engl J Med. 2011;365(6):493-505. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1105243

Granich RM, Gilks CF, Dye C, De Cock KM, Williams BG. Universal voluntary HIV testing with immediate antiretroviral therapy as a strategy for elimination of HIV transmission: a mathematical model. Lancet. 2009;373(9657):48-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61697-9

Smith LR, Patterson TL, Magis-Rodriguez C, Ojeda VD, Burgos JL, Rojas SA, et al. Engagement in the HIV care continuum among key populations in Tijuana, Mexico. AIDS Behav. 2016;20(5):1017-25. https://doi.org/:10.1007/s10461-015-1186-8

Silva CE, Smith LR, Patterson TL, Semple SJ, Harvey-Vera A, Nunes S, et al. Stigma and web-based sex seeking among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Tijuana, Mexico: a cross-sectional study. JMIR Public Health. 2020;6(1);e14803. https://doi.org/10.2196/14803.

Semple SJ, Pines HA, Strathdee SA, Harvey-Vera A, Rangel G, Magis-Rodriguez C, et al. Uptake of a partner notification model for HIV among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Tijuana, Mexico. AIDS Behav. 2018;22(7):2042-55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1984-2

Sedia Biosciences Corporation. Sedia™ HIV-1 LAg-Avidity EIA Package Insert. Portland, OR; 2016 [cited 2018 Oct 6]. Available from: http://www.sediabio.com/products/lag-avidity-eia

Chaillon A, Gianella S, Wertheim JO, Richman DD, Mehta SR, Smith DM. HIV migration between blood and cerebrospinal fluid or semen over time. J Infect Dis. 2014;209(10):1642-52. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jit678

Smith DM, May SJ Tweeten S, Drumright L, Pacold ME, Kosakovsky-Pond SL, et al. A public health model for the molecular surveillance of HIV transmission in San Diego, California. AIDS. 2009;23(2):225-32. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAD.0b013e32831d2a81

Ragonnet-Cronin ML, Shilaih M, Günthard HF, Hodcroft EB, Boni J, Fearnhill E, et al. A direct comparison of two densely sampled epidemic: the UK and Switzerland. Sci Rep. 2016;6:32251. https://doi.org/

Patrick R, Jain J, Harvey-Vera A, Semple J, Rangel G, Patterson TL, et al. Perceived barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis use among HIV-negative men who have sex with men in Tijuana, Mexico: a latent class analysis. PLoS One. 2019;14(8):e0221558. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221558

Herek GM, Cogan JC, Gillis JR, Glunt EK. Correlates of internalized homophobia in a community sample of lesbians and gay men. J Gay Lesbian Med Assoc. 1998;2(1):17-26.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HlV/STD risks in young men who have sex with men who do not disclose their sexual orientation--six US cities, 1994-2000. MMWR Morb Mortal WKLY Rep. 2003;52(5):81-6.

Moser A, Stuck AE, Silliman RA, Ganz PA, Clough-Gorr KM. The eight-item modified Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey: psychometric evaluation showed excellent performance. J Clin Epidemiol. 2012;65(10):1107-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2012.04.007

Larsson A. AliView: a fast and lightweight alignment viewer and editor for large datasets. Bioinformatics. 2014;30(22):3276-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btu531

Kosakovsky Pond SL, Weaver S, Leigh Brown AJ, Wertheim JO. HIV-TRACE (Transmission Cluster Engine): a tool for large scale molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 and other rapidly evolving pathogens. Mol Biol Evol. 2018;35(7):1812-9. https://doi.org;10.1093/molbev/msy016

Wertheim JO, Kosakovsky Pond SL, Forgione LA, Mehta SR, Murrell B, Shah S, et al. Social and genetic networks of HIV-1 transmission in New York City. PLoS Pathog. 2017;13(1):e1006000. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006000

Oster AM, Wertheim JO, Hernandez AL, Ocfemia MCB, Saduvala N, Hall HI. Using molecular HIV surveillance data to understand transmission between subpopulations in the United States. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2015;70(4):444-51. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000000809

Oster AM, France AM, Panneer N, Bañez Ocfemia MC, Campbell E, Dasgupta S, et al. Identifying clusters of recent and rapid HIV transmission through analysis of molecular surveillance data. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2018;79(5):543-50. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000001856

Little SJ, Kosakovsky Pond SL, Anderson CM, Young JA, Wertheim JO, Mehta SR, et al. Using HIV networks to inform real time prevention interventions. PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e98443. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098443

Wertheim JO, Oster AM, Hernandez AL, Saduvala N, Ocfemia MCB, Hall HI. The international dimension of the U.S. HIV transmission network and onward transmission of HIV recently imported into the United States. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2016;32(10-11):1046-53. https://doi.org/10.1089/AID.2015.0272

Whiteside YO, Song R, Wertheim JO, Oster AM. Molecular analysis allows inference into HIV transmission among young men who have sex with men in the United States. AIDS. 2015;29(18):2517-22. https://doi.org10.1097/QAD.0000000000000852

Morgan E, Skaathun B, Schneider JA. Sexual, social, and genetic network Oveorlap: a socio-molecular approach toward public health intervention of HIV. Am J Public Health. 2018;108(11):1528-34. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304438

Westreich D, Greenland S. The table 2 fallacy: presenting and interpreting confounder and modifier coefficients. Am J Epidemiol. 2013;177(4):292-8. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kws412

Newman M, Barabasi AI, Watts D, Watts DJ. The structure and dynamics of networks. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 2006.

Anguiano J. Repression and resistance: a social history of the gay social movement of Tijuana, México 1980-1993. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University; 2019.

Mimiaga MJ, Noonan E, Donnell D, Safren SA, Koenen KC, Gortmaker S, et al. Childhood sexual abuse is highly associated with HIV risk-taking behavior and infection among MSM in the EXPLORE Study. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2009;51(3):340-8. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181a24b38

Welles SL, Baker AC, Miner MH, Brennan DJ, Jacoby S, Rosser BRS. History of childhood sexual abuse and unsafe anal intercourse in a 6-city study of HIV-positive men who have sex with men. 2009;99(6):1079-86. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2007.133280

Pines HA, Goodman-Meza D, Pitpitan EV, Torres K, Semple SJ, Patterson TL. HIV testing among men who have sex with men in Tijuana, Mexico: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open. 2016;6(2):e010388. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010388

Downloads

Published

2020-08-28

Issue

Section

Original Articles

How to Cite

Recent HIV Infection among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Tijuana. (2020). Revista De Saúde Pública, 54, 82. https://doi.org/10.11606/s1518-8787.2020054002179