Many Women on HIV Treatment Are at Risk of Developing a Detectable Viral Load

An ongoing study finds that considerable challenges in such women’s lives may compromise their adherence to antiretrovirals says Benjamin Ryan. Beset with numerous life challenges that may compromise their adherence to antiretrovirals (ARVs), many women living with HIV are at substantial long-term risk of developing a detectable viral load. Publishing their Findings in JAMA Network Open, researchers from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study, an ongoing longitudinal cohort study, analyzed data on 1,989 women with the virus who made at least five study visits between 1994 and 2017. The study sites were in Brooklyn and the Bronx in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Upon entering the study, the women had an average age of 36.9 years, an average CD4 count of 467 and a median viral load of 6,200. A total of 1,305 (65.6%) of the women were African American. At study visits conducted every six months, the women received viral load testing and were ...