key: cord-0888006-1dp98x6h
authors: Lau, Jillian SY.; Rasmussen, Thomas A.; Lewin, Sharon R.; Ehm, Adam; Martinez, Cipriano; Burnett, Craig; McMahon, James H.
title: Interrupting antiretroviral therapy in HIV cure trials during COVID-19: Adaptation to low transmission settings
date: 2021-02-07
journal: J Virus Erad
DOI: 10.1016/j.jve.2021.100032
sha: ff6bb8353581af604404119a7923b4dd0f414df4
doc_id: 888006
cord_uid: 1dp98x6h

nan

There was universal agreement amongst our convened working group that HIV cure research continues. This is also consistent with findings from an online survey of people living with HIV in the state of Victoria that found 91% of respondents were still willing or more willing than pre-pandemic to participate in research during the pandemic (5).

Similar to Fidler et al., our plan introduces additional consent details, extra exclusion criteria, strategies to minimise study visits in the hospital setting, routine asymptomatic testing, and an active COVID-19 infection response plan. Vaccination strategies could also be included into study protocols as vaccines become available.

Our plan will only be implemented at an established threshold determined to represent increased risk of community SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In the Australian J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f context this was defined as more than 10 new cases of locally acquired infection in the preceding 3 days within the metropolitan region where the trial is conducted.

Research towards an HIV cure must continue during the COVID-19 pandemic but planning to mitigate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is critical. These plans can be tailored to each setting according to each level of transmission. 

HIV cure research in the time of COVID-19 -antiretroviral therapy treatment interruption trials: a discussion paper

Listing areas of COVID-19 local transmission as hotspots for the purpose of provision of Commonwealth support 2020

Operationalizing human immunodeficiency virus cure-related trials with analytic treatment interruptions during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic: A J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f collaborative approach

Analysing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with HIV. PHA Australasian COVID-19 Virtual Conference

is a postgraduate fellow and S.R.L. is a practitioner fellow of the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council

's institutions have received grant funding from Merck, Viiv, and Gilead for the conduct of clinical trials