Strong influence of behavioral dynamics on the ability of testing and treating HIV to stop transmission.

ABSTRACT: Choosing between strategies to control HIV transmission with antivirals requires understanding both the dynamics affecting those strategies' effectiveness and what causes those dynamics. Alternating episodes of high and low contact rates (episodic risk) interact with increased transmission probabilities during early infection to strongly influence HIV transmission dynamics. To elucidate the mechanics of this interaction and how these alter the effectiveness of universal test and treat (UT8T) strategies, we formulated a model of UT8T effects. Analysis of this model shows how and why changing the dynamics of episodic risk changes the fraction of early transmissions (FET) and the basic reproduction number (R0) and consequently causes UT8T to vary from easily eliminating transmission to having

SUBMITTER: Henry CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5386110 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature