Viral suppression rates in a safety-net HIV clinic in San Francisco destabilized during COVID-19

• Published in: AIDS (London) Vol. 34; no. 15; pp. 2328 - 2331
• Main Authors: Spinelli, Matthew A, Hickey, Matthew D, Glidden, David V, Nguyen, Janet Q, Oskarsson, Jon J, Havlir, Diane, Gandhi, Monica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Copyright Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Adult; African Americans; Age Factors; Anti-HIV Agents - therapeutic use; Betacoronavirus; Communicable Disease Control; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; COVID-19; Delivery of Health Care; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Health Services Accessibility; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - drug therapy; Homeless Persons - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Male; No-Show Patients - statistics & numerical data; Odds Ratio; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Public Policy; Retention in Care - statistics & numerical data; Safety-net Providers; San Francisco; SARS-CoV-2; Sustained Virologic Response; Telemedicine; Viral Load; San Francisco
• ISSN: 0269-9370; 1473-5571
• DOI: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000002677

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to hinder US End the HIV Epidemic goals. We evaluated viral suppression and retention-in-care before and after telemedicine was instituted, in response to shelter-in-place mandates, in a large, urban HIV clinic. The odds of viral nonsuppression were 31% higher postshelter-in-place (95% confidence interval = 1.08–1.53) in spite of stable retention-in-care and visit volume, with disproportionate impact on homeless individuals. Measures to counteract the effect of COVID-19 on HIV outcomes are urgently needed.