CROI 2015: Advances in HIV Testing and Prevention Strategies

HIV testing rates and awareness of HIV serostatus have improved globally, but disparities continue between black and white men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States, and between women and men globally. The 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) was a watershed moment for preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Two efficacy trials conducted in MSM were stopped early because of an 86% reduction in the risk of HIV acquisition among men taking tenofovir and emtricitabine. New drugs, long-acting formulations, and different patterns of dosing are undergoing evaluation. Poor adherence has limited PrEP effectiveness in some populations, and new measures of drug levels in dried blood spots and hair appear to be promising new tools. Pharmacokinetic differences of PrEP agents in rectal versus vaginal tissue preclude extrapolating PrEP trial results among MSM to women. Several studies reported no HIV transmissions between HIV-serodiscordant couples when the seropositive partner was successfully treated for 6 months. However, consistent viral suppression does not occur in a substantial minority of patients in many clinics, reducing the potential impact of treatment as prevention.