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Lessons Learned about Behavioral Science and Acute/Early HIV Infection. The NIMH Multisite Acute HIV Infection Study: V

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Abstract

Acute/early HIV infection is a period of heightened HIV transmission and a window of opportunity for intervention to prevent onward disease transmission. The NIMH Multisite Acute HIV Infection (AHI) Study was an exploratory initiative aimed at determining the feasibility of recruiting persons with AHI into research, assessing their psychosocial and behavioral characteristics, and examining short-term changes in these characteristics. This paper reports on lessons learned in the study, including: (1) the need to establish the cost-effectiveness of AHI testing; (2) challenges to identifying persons with AHI; (3) the need to increase awareness of acute-phase HIV transmission risks; (4) determining the goals of behavioral interventions following AHI diagnosis; and (5) the need for “rapid response” public health systems that can move quickly enough to intervene while persons are still in the AHI stage. There are untapped opportunities for behavioral and medical science collaborations in these areas that could reduce the incidence of HIV infection.

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Acknowledgments

Primary funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health as supplements to the following AIDS Research Centers: P30MH062246, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California San Francisco; P30MH043520, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University; P30MH062512, HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, University of California San Diego; P30MH052776, Center for AIDS Intervention Research, Medical College of Wisconsin; P30MH058107, Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment Services, University of California Los Angeles; and P30MH062294, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University. Additional funding was provided by: P30AI42853, Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research and AI43638, Acute Infection and Early Disease Research Program, University of California San Diego. Complete details about funding, the study Steering Committee, co-investigators, collaborating scientists, and project staff are presented in the first paper of this series (Kerndt et al 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for AIDS Intervention Research (CAIR), Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, 2071 N. Summit Avenue, Milwaukee, WI, 53202, USA

    Jeffrey A. Kelly, David W. Seal & Steven D. Pinkerton

  2. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Stephen F. Morin & Wayne T. Steward

  3. HIV Center for Behavioral and Clinical Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Robert H. Remien

  4. Center for Health and Wellbeing, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Jenny A. Higgins

  5. Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Robert Dubrow

  6. HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    J. H. Atkinson

  7. Center for HIV Prevention, Treatment, and Services (CHIPTS), University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Peter R. Kerndt

  8. Brown University/The Miriam Hospital, Providence, RI, USA

    Kenneth Mayer

  9. Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Kathleen J. Sikkema

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  1. Jeffrey A. Kelly
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  2. Stephen F. Morin
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  3. Robert H. Remien
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  5. Jenny A. Higgins
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  8. J. H. Atkinson
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  9. Peter R. Kerndt
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  11. Kenneth Mayer
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  12. Kathleen J. Sikkema
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Correspondence to Jeffrey A. Kelly.

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Kelly, J.A., Morin, S.F., Remien, R.H. et al. Lessons Learned about Behavioral Science and Acute/Early HIV Infection. The NIMH Multisite Acute HIV Infection Study: V. AIDS Behav 13, 1068–1074 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-009-9579-1

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