Diagnosis of HIV and Early Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation Among HIV-1 Infected Infants

Infants of intervention clinics will have heelprick-obtained blood tested by standard of care method (SOC) and Alere™ q HIV-1/2 Detect Test Point of Care testing onsite (i.e. community, household, or facility level). Point-of-care (POC) testing results will be available in 52 minutes. HIV-infected infants, based on the Alere Q test result, will start ART as soon as possible and start routine SOC visits at weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 36, and 48 post ART-initiation. Study data will be obtained on first 4 routine visits after ART initiation (3 months). Infants will return for results of DBS-based DNA PCR testing. Positive SOC infants remain on ART/study follow-up. Negative POC test/negative SOC infants will attend only routine care visits and continue on HIV prophylaxis per national guidelines. Discordant results require DNA PCR test, with positive results continuing ART, negative results being repeated for confirmation before discontinuation.