Undetectable = Untransmittable

Last updated

Undetectable=Untransmittable
Formation2016;8 years ago (2016)
Type NGO
Purpose Prevention of HIV/AIDS
Website Official website

Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) is a message used in HIV campaigns. It means that if someone has an undetectable viral load, they cannot sexually transmit HIV to others. [1] U=U is supported by numerous health groups and organisations worldwide, including the World Health Organization (WHO). [2] The validity of U=U has been proven through many clinical trials involving thousands of couples. [3] [4] U=U is also used as an HIV prevention strategy: if someone is undetectable, they cannot pass it further and hence, prevent the virus from spreading. This is known as Treatment as Prevention (TasP). [5]

Contents

Origins

The U=U campaign was launched by the Prevention Access Campaign in early 2016 from a Scientific Consensus Statement. It aims to change what it means to live with HIV by raising awareness and dismantling the stigma around HIV, improving the quality of life of those living with it in order to end the epidemic. [6]

Scientific evidence

The campaign seeks to spread the scientific evidence that undetectable means untransmittable. Since the beginning of the epidemic, perceptions and management of HIV infection have gone through many stages; from assuming the infectiousness, then discovering the routes of transmission (blood, sexual fluids, and breastfeeding), to prevention methods (education, condoms, PrEP, and PEP) and various different treatments.

When a person is living with HIV and is on effective treatment, it lowers the level of HIV (the viral load) in the blood. When the levels are extremely low (below 200 copies/ml of blood measured) it is referred to as an undetectable viral load. [7]

Between 2011 and 2019, three clinical studies appeared that have changed the paradigm of prevention and quality of life for the better. These studies confirmed that access to and adherence to treatment, such that the virus remains "undetectable" in routine blood tests:

  • Prevents the infection from progressing in the person taking antiretrovirals; and also
  • Prevents the virus from being transmitted during sexual activity.

In 2011, researchers published part of the results of the HPTN 052 study. In this randomised controlled trial, 1,763 serodiscordant heterosexual couples were studied (one person HIV positive, the other testing negative). The subjects were then divided into two groups, depending on whether the person had started treatment as soon as they received the diagnosis, or if they deferred the start of the treatment. It was discovered that, when comparing both groups, there was a 93% reduction in transmissions in those who started treatment immediately. The researchers then concluded that, if the person continues their treatment, they are less likely to transmit the infection to a sexual partner. [8]

In 2016, another research group published the results of the PARTNER-1 study. In this observational study, the conditions were far more specific and the question more targeted. A total of 1,166 serodiscordant heterosexual and men who have sex with men (MSM) couples were included. In all cases, the person living with HIV had a plasma viral load of less than 200 copies per mL of blood. The couples also reported not having used condoms during sexual intercourse. After 36,000 instances of intercourse in heterosexual couples and 22,000 in MSM couples, there was no related transmission of HIV. To refine the estimates for MSM, it was decided to continue studying more encounters and more MSM couples. [9]

In 2019, the additional results of PARTNER-2 were published. In this study, serodiscordant MSM couples were analysed in which the person living with HIV had had an undetectable viral load for six months or more. 76,991 sexual acts without condom use were documented with no related transmission. This study is therefore the one that allows us to affirm that the risk of sexual transmission of HIV is 0 when the person with HIV has an undetectable viral load for 6 months or more. [10]

Comparable findings in MSM have also been reported by the Opposites Attract study, conducted in Australia, Brazil and Thailand. [11]

International organisations

1100 organizations in 105 countries have committed to spreading the U=U message in their communities as part of a Prevention Access initiative. This has created an alliance of people living with HIV, researchers, and social organizations whose goal is, on the one hand, to end the epidemic of HIV infection, as well as the stigma related to living with HIV. For this, the campaign sought to bring scientific information closer through a language of disclosure so that all people, regardless of their training, ethnicity or socioeconomic level, can learn about the new advances. [12]

Actions

In 2015, Bruce Richman founded the Prevention Access Campaign with the aim of connecting activists and researchers from around the world to spread the message of U=U, which has been carried out since 2016. It has received the support of numerous organizations all over the world:

See also

Related Research Articles

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Viral load monitoring for HIV is the regular measurement of the viral load of individual HIV-positive people as part of their personal plan for treatment of HIV/AIDS. A count of the viral load is routine before the start of HIV treatment.

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References

  1. ↑ "Undetectable = untransmittable". www.unaids.org. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Doctors Need to Tell More People About U=U". www.hivplusmag.com. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "HIV Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U), or Treatment as Prevention | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases". www.niaid.nih.gov. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  4. ↑ "Undetectable = untransmittable". www.unaids.org. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "HIV Treatment as Prevention". HIV.gov. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "Prevention Access Campaign – Equal Access to the HIV Prevention Revolution" . Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Kasadha, Bakita. "What does undetectable = untransmittable (U=U) mean?". aidsmap. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  8. ↑ Cohen, Myron S.; Chen, Ying Q.; McCauley, Marybeth; Gamble, Theresa; Hosseinipour, Mina C.; Kumarasamy, Nagalingeswaran; Hakim, James G.; Kumwenda, Johnstone; Grinsztejn, Beatriz; Pilotto, Jose H. S.; Godbole, Sheela V.; Chariyalertsak, Suwat; Santos, Breno R.; Mayer, Kenneth H.; Hoffman, Irving F. (1 September 2016). "Antiretroviral Therapy for the Prevention of HIV-1 Transmission". The New England Journal of Medicine. 375 (9): 830–839. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1600693. ISSN   1533-4406. PMC   5049503 . PMID   27424812.
  9. ↑ Rodger, Alison J.; Cambiano, Valentina; Bruun, Tina; Vernazza, Pietro; Collins, Simon; van Lunzen, Jan; Corbelli, Giulio Maria; Estrada, Vicente; Geretti, Anna Maria; Beloukas, Apostolos; Asboe, David; Viciana, Pompeyo; Gutiérrez, Félix; Clotet, Bonaventura; Pradier, Christian (12 July 2016). "Sexual Activity Without Condoms and Risk of HIV Transmission in Serodifferent Couples When the HIV-Positive Partner Is Using Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy". JAMA. 316 (2): 171–181. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.5148 . ISSN   0098-7484. PMID   27404185.
  10. ↑ Rodger, Alison J.; Cambiano, Valentina; Bruun, Tina; Vernazza, Pietro; Collins, Simon; Degen, Olaf; Corbelli, Giulio Maria; Estrada, Vicente; Geretti, Anna Maria; Beloukas, Apostolos; Raben, Dorthe; Coll, Pep; Antinori, Andrea; Nwokolo, Nneka; Rieger, Armin (15 June 2019). "Risk of HIV transmission through condomless sex in serodifferent gay couples with the HIV-positive partner taking suppressive antiretroviral therapy (PARTNER): final results of a multicentre, prospective, observational study". The Lancet. 393 (10189): 2428–2438. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30418-0. ISSN   0140-6736. PMC   6584382 . PMID   31056293.
  11. ↑ Bavinton, Benjamin R; Pinto, Angie N; Phanuphak, Nittaya; Grinsztejn, Beatriz; Prestage, Garrett P; Zablotska-Manos, Iryna B; Jin, Fengyi; Fairley, Christopher K; Moore, Richard; Roth, Norman; Bloch, Mark; Pell, Catherine; McNulty, Anna M; Baker, David; Hoy, Jennifer; Tee, Ban Kiem; Templeton, David J; Cooper, David A; Emery, Sean; Kelleher, Anthony; Grulich, Andrew E; Grulich, Andrew E; Zablotska-Manos, Iryna B; Prestage, Garrett P; Jin, Fengyi; Bavinton, Benjamin R; Grinsztejn, Beatriz; Phanuphak, Nittaya; Cooper, David A; Kelleher, Anthony; Emery, Sean; Fairley, Christopher K; Wilson, David; Koelsch, Kersten K; Triffitt, Kathy; Doong, Nicolas; Baker, David; Bloch, Mark; Templeton, David J; McNulty, Anna; Pell, Catherine; Hoy, Jennifer; Tee, Ban Kiem; Moore, Richard; Roth, Norman; Orth, David; Pinto, Angie N (August 2018). "Viral suppression and HIV transmission in serodiscordant male couples: an international, prospective, observational, cohort study". The Lancet HIV. 5 (8): e438–e447. doi:10.1016/S2352-3018(18)30132-2.
  12. ↑ "Community – Prevention Access Campaign" . Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "Undetectable equals Untransmittable (U=U)". Fight Against AIDS Foundation. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "Undetectable=Untransmittable – ICASO" . Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  15. ↑ "Undetectable = untransmittable". www.unaids.org. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
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