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Observational Study
. 2015 Jul 14;10(7):e0132182.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132182. eCollection 2015.

Lack of Effectiveness of Antiretroviral Therapy in Preventing HIV Infection in Serodiscordant Couples in Uganda: An Observational Study

Josephine Birungi  1 , Jeong Eun Min  2 , Katherine A Muldoon  3 , Pontiano Kaleebu  4 , Rachel King  5 , Sarah Khanakwa  1 , Maureen Nyonyintono  1 , YaLin Chen  2 , Edward J Mills  6 , Fred Lyagoba  7 , Manon Ragonnet-Cronin  8 , Jonathan Wangisi  1 , Lillian Lourenco  2 , David M Moore  3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Lack of Effectiveness of Antiretroviral Therapy in Preventing HIV Infection in Serodiscordant Couples in Uganda: An Observational Study

Josephine Birungi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: We examined the real-world effectiveness of ART as an HIV prevention tool among HIV serodiscordant couples in a programmatic setting in a low-income country.

Methods: We enrolled individuals from HIV serodiscordant couples aged ≥18 years of age in Jinja, Uganda from June 2009 - June 2011. In one group of couples the HIV positive partner was receiving ART as they met clinical eligibility criteria (a CD4 cell count ≤250 cells/ μL or WHO Stage III/IV disease). In the second group the infected partner was not yet ART-eligible. We measured HIV incidence by testing the uninfected partner every three months. We conducted genetic linkage studies to determine the source of new infections in seroconverting participants.

Results: A total of 586 couples were enrolled of which 249 (42%) of the HIV positive participants were receiving ART at enrollment, and an additional 99 (17%) initiated ART during the study. The median duration of follow-up was 1.5 years. We found 9 new infections among partners of participants who had been receiving ART for at least three months and 8 new infections in partners of participants who had not received ART or received it for less than three months, for incidence rates of 2.09 per 100 person-years (PYRs) and 2.30 per 100 PYRs, respectively. The incidence rate ratio for ART-use was 0.91 (95% confidence interval 0.31-2.70; p=0.999). The hazard ratio for HIV seroconversion associated with ART-use by the positive partner was 1.07 (95% CI 0.41-2.80). A total of 5/7 (71%) of the transmissions on ART and 6/7 (86%) of those not on ART were genetically linked.

Conclusion: Overall HIV incidence was low in comparison to previous studies of serodiscordant couples. However, ART-use was not associated with a reduced risk of HIV transmission in this study.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Study profile of the Highly Active Antiretroviral therapy as Prevention (HAARP) Study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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