A single laboratory-based HIV viral load test used by U.S. clinicians who provide people with long-acting, injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) did not reliably detect HIV in a multi-country study.
In the study, a single positive viral load test was frequently found to be a false positive result. However, a second viral load test with a new blood sample was able to distinguish true positive results from false positive results for all participants whose initial viral load test was positive. The findings were presented at the 2024 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024) in Munich, Germany.
We are still learning how to optimize the package of services that accompany long-acting PrEP, including HIV testing. The viral load testing findings observed in this study illuminate performance gaps in the current U.S.
HIV testing algorithm for injectable cabotegravir PrEP." Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D.
, M.P.H.
, Director of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Long-acting, injectable cabotegravir PrEP, known as CAB-LA, is a highly effective HIV prevention method, administered by intramuscular injection every two months. Routine HIV status monitoring is recommended for any form of PrEP to ensure that people can promptly be aware if they acquire HIV while taking PrEP drugs. In the United States, people taking oral PrEP can do this with point-of-care rapid tests and self-tests that detect HIV antibodi.