Brief Report: Incidence of HIV in a Nationwide Cohort Receiving Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention.

BACKGROUND

Cases of HIV, while infrequent, have been reported during tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). We describe the incidence of HIV and patterns of PrEP use within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study among persons initiating PrEP in the VHA between July 2012 and April 2016 using national VHA data. We defined time on PrEP and time at risk of HIV exposure as the total time from the first PrEP fill to exhaustion of supply of the final PrEP prescription. We identified incident cases of HIV infection after PrEP initiation based on laboratory data. Medication adherence measures and days without pills were calculated using pharmacy fill data. We used a chart review to determine patient-reported PrEP use around the time of diagnosis.

RESULTS

We identified 825 unique patients initiating PrEP; they were 97% men and 67% white, with a mean age of 41 years. Six HIV infections were observed during the study period, yielding an HIV incidence of 0.8 (Poisson exact 95% confidence interval: 0.3 to 1.8) cases per 100 person-years. Two cases occurred during active PrEP use by self-report and perfect adherence based on fill data. Both were infected with viruses containing the M184V mutation. Four additional cases were diagnosed after self-reported discontinuation.

CONCLUSIONS

HIV infection was rare in a nationwide cohort of PrEP users. Although most of the infections occurred during inconsistent PrEP use, infections during periods of high measured adherence were also observed. These findings highlight the importance of PrEP persistence during periods of risk.