Indicator-condition-guided HIV testing in rural DRC

• Published in: Infection 2024-06, Vol.52 (3), p.1171-1174
• Main Authors: Migaud, Pascal, Naidenow, Julia, Ghaeni, Leyli, Hosmann, Kai, Kaghoma, Jeannine, Kowomba, Justin, Lubura, Valery, Mabete, Didier, Mvokolo, Sophie, Stocker, Hartmut, Hartlapp, Ingo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Availability; Brief Report; Democratic Republic of the Congo - epidemiology; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Family Medicine; Female; General Practice; HIV; HIV Infections - diagnosis; HIV Testing - methods; HIV Testing - statistics & numerical data; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Internal Medicine; Male; Mass Screening - methods; Medical tests; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Patients; Rural Population; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0300-8126; 1439-0973; 1439-0973
• DOI: 10.1007/s15010-024-02241-w

Background HIV testing services are a key component of the 95-95-95-0 goals. In many parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo the availability of test kits is limited for multiple reasons. Targeted testing of patients with HIV indicator conditions is therefore the only feasible option in these settings. Methods We introduced an indicator condition-guided HIV testing project in the Emergency Room of the Hôpital Géneral de Référence de Kikwit, DRC. Results We screened 1274 patients for indicator condition. In 94 (7.4%) patients, the treating physician diagnosed at least one HIV indicator. 34 (36.2%) tested HIV-positive (2.7% of screened patients). 52% of the newly diagnosed patients were lost to follow-up two months after the first diagnosis of HIV. Conclusion In a resource-limited setting with insufficient availability of HIV-Tests, indicator-triggered testing is a useful tool to find a high number of HIV-positive patients. Loss to follow-up is one of the major challenges.