Summary
Redefining viral load suppression (VLS) using lower cutpoints could impact progress towards the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. We assessed impacts of lowering the VLS cutpoint on achieving the 95-95-95 VLS target in the Rakai Community Cohort Study. Population VLS fell from 86% to 84% and 76%, respectively, after lowering VLS cutpoints from <1,000 to <200 and <50 copies/mL. The fraction of viremic persons increased by 17% after lowering the VLS cutpoint from <1,000 to <200 copies/mL.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
This study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (U01AI100031, U01AI075115, R01AI110324, R01AI128779, R01AI123002, R01AI143333, R01AI55080, T32AI102623); the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH105313); the Division of Intramural Research of the NIAID; and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the terms of NU2GGH000817. JGR and KBR were supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH126796, K01MH129226). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the funding agencies.
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
The study was approved by the Uganda Virus Research Institute Research and Ethics Committee and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Institutional Review Board. This project was reviewed in accordance with CDC human research protection procedures and was determined to be research, but CDC investigators did not interact with human subjects or have access to identifiable data or specimens for research purposes.
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Yes
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Footnotes
Conflicts of Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Funding This study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) (U01AI100031, U01AI075115, R01AI110324, R01AI128779, R01AI123002, R01AI143333, R01AI55080, T32AI102623); the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH105313); the Division of Intramural Research of the NIAID; and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the terms of NU2GGH000817. JGR and KBR were supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH126796, K01MH129226). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the funding agencies.
Ethical Statement The study was approved by the Uganda Virus Research Institute Research and Ethics Committee and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Institutional Review Board. This project was reviewed in accordance with CDC human research protection procedures and was determined to be research, but CDC investigators did not interact with human subjects or have access to identifiable data or specimens for research purposes.
Data Availability
All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors