Combined Epidemiologic and Molecular Network Analyses of Newly Diagnosed HIV Infection in Hong Kong

With the aim of determining the epidemiologic status and changing patterns of HIV infection in Hong Kong, a prospective cohort study is conducted with the objectives of: (a) describing the distribution of HIV-1 subtypes of newly diagnosed infection and their association with transmission routes; (b) characterising the transmission clusters of HIV infection and their dynamicity; and (c) evaluating the community burden of HIV and its changes over time. An epidemiologic cohort database would be established from newly diagnosed HIV infections reported in Hong Kong over a 4-year period. People living with HIV infections are invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire survey to capture data on their behavioural and network profiles prior to infection, supplemented by transcription of relevant clinical record data including CD4/CD8 and viral load measures. Blood sampling would be performed for supporting RNA sequencing. The main outcome measures are the prevalent and temporal changes of epidemiologic profile, molecular network patterns and population viral loads