The Big Apple takes a big bite out of HIV. (Photo : Reuters)
The stigma associated with having HIV or the Human Immnodeficiency Virus that causes AIDS hasn't gotten in the way of more New Yorkers seeking treatment for this usually fatal disease.
The HIV Epidemiology Program at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported that a large proportion of New York City residents infected by HIV are being diagnosed, receiving care and seeing their serum viral load drop to minuscule levels said a story in MedPage Today.
About 86 percent of HIV-infected people in NYC have been diagnosed, and 76 percent of these individuals have been linked to care.
Of those undergoing treatment, 69 percent have undetectable serum levels of HIV, said Dr. Lucia Torian, PhD, director of the HIV Epidemiology Program.
"Timely linkage to care -- within 3 months of diagnosis -- has increased from 68% to 76% (P<0.0001) between 2006 and 2013," she pointed out.
Viral suppression at 6 months increased from 24 percent to 54 percent while viral suppression at 12 months increased from 36 percent to 69 percent.
Dr. Torian said the main drivers of linkage to care and viral suppression are CD4 cell counts and age. She also said changes in state laws have led to getting more people in care.
She noted that New York State has required reporting of HIV-related laboratory tests since 2000. The city has also mandated electronic reporting of all values of all laboratory tests related to HIV since 2005. These steps have helped city health officials identify people that have been undiagnosed.
"These are really impressive increases in linkage to care and suppression of virus achieved in New York City over the last few years," said Dr. Harold Jaffe, associate director for science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"It is impressive to accomplish this in a major metropolitan area that has more HIV infections than anywhere else in the U.S.
"They have achieved a really high level of referral to care and viral load suppression with a hugely mixed population of gays, straights, blacks, whites, Latinos, urban, and rural populations."
