INTRODUCTION:In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), which are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic and manage limited resources, optimized implementation strategies are needed to enhance the efficiency of the HIV response. Assessing strategy usage to date could identify research gaps and inform future implementation efforts. We conducted a systematic review to describe the features and distributions of published implementation strategies attempting to improve HIV treatment service delivery and outcomes. METHODS:We searched PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL and screened abstracts and full texts published between 1 January 2014 and 27 August 2021, for English-language studies conducted in LMICs that described the implementation of HIV intervention and reported at least one HIV care cascade outcome, ranging from HIV testing to viral suppression. Implementation strategies were inductively specified, characterized by unique combinations of actor, action and action target, and summarized based on existing implementation strategy taxonomies. All strategies included in this study were independently reviewed to ensure accuracy and consistency. RESULTS:We identified 44,126 abstracts and reviewed 1504 full-text manuscripts. Among 485 included studies, 83% were conducted in sub-Saharan Africa; the rest were conducted in South-East Asia and Western Pacific (12%), and the Americas (8%). A total of 7253 unique implementation strategies were identified, including changing health service delivery (48%) and providing capacity building and support strategies (34%). Healthcare providers and researchers led 59% and 28% of the strategies, respectively. People living with HIV and their communities (62%) and healthcare providers (38%) were common strategy targets. Strategies attempting to change governance, financial arrangements and implementation processes were rarely reported. DISCUSSION:We identified a range of published implementation strategies that addressed HIV cascade outcomes, though some key gaps exist. We may need to expand the application of implementation strategies to ensure that all stakeholders are meaningfully involved to support equitable implementation efforts across the geographic regions and target populations, and to optimize implementation outcomes. CONCLUSIONS:Some health service delivery and capacity building and support strategies have been most commonly used to date. Future research and implementation may incorporate a more diverse range of strategies and detailed reporting on their usage to inform improved HIV responses globally.

BACKGROUND:Optimizing retention in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment may require sequential behavioral interventions based on patients' response. METHODS:In a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial in Kenya, we randomly assigned adults initiating HIV treatment to standard of care (SOC), Short Message Service (SMS) messages, or conditional cash transfers (CCT). Those with retention lapse (missed a clinic visit by ≥14 days) were randomly assigned again to standard-of-care outreach (SOC-Outreach), SMS+CCT, or peer navigation. Those randomly assigned to SMS or CCT who did not lapse after 1 year were randomly assigned again to either stop or continue the initial intervention. Primary outcomes were retention in care without an initial lapse, return to the clinic among those who lapsed, and time in care; secondary outcomes included adjudicated viral suppression. Average treatment effect (ATE) was calculated using targeted maximum likelihood estimation with adjustment for baseline characteristics at randomization and certain time-varying characteristics at rerandomization. RESULTS:Among 1809 participants, 79.7% of those randomly assigned to CCT (n=523/656), 71.7% to SMS (n=393/548), and 70.7% to SOC (n=428/605) were retained in care in the first year (ATE: 9.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.4%, 14.4% and ATE: 4.2%; 95% CI: -0.7%, 9.2% for CCT and SMS compared with SOC, respectively). Among 312 participants with an initial lapse who were randomly assigned again, 69.1% who were randomly assigned to a navigator (n=76/110) returned, 69.5% randomly assigned to CCT+SMS (n=73/105) returned, and 55.7% randomly assigned to SOC-Outreach (n=54/97) returned (ATE: 14.1%; 95% CI: 0.6%, 27.6% and ATE: 11.4%; 95% CI: -2.2%, 24.9% for navigator and CCT+SMS compared with SOC-Outreach, respectively). Among participants without lapse on SMS, continuing SMS did not affect retention (n=122/180; 67.8% retained) versus stopping (n=151/209; 72.2% retained; ATE: -4.4%; 95% CI: -16.6%, 7.9%). Among participants without lapse on CCT, those continuing CCT had higher retention (n=192/230; 83.5% retained) than those stopping (n=173/287; 60.3% retained; ATE: 28.6%; 95% CI: 19.9%, 37.3%). Among 15 sequenced strategies, initial CCT, escalated to navigator if lapse occurred and continued if no lapse occurred, increased time in care (ATE: 7.2%, 95% CI: 3.7%, 10.7%) and viral suppression (ATE: 8.2%, 95% CI: 2.2%, 14.2%), the most compared with SOC throughout. Initial SMS escalated to navigator if lapse occurred, and otherwise continued, showed similar effect sizes compared with SOC throughout. CONCLUSIONS:Active interventions to prevent retention lapses followed by navigation for those who lapse and maintenance of initial intervention for those without lapse resulted in best overall retention and viral suppression among the strategies studied. Among those who remained in care, discontinuation of CCT, but not SMS, compromised retention and suppression. (Funded by National Institutes of Health grants R01 MH104123, K24 AI134413, and R01 AI074345; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02338739.).

BackgroundEquity in vaccination coverage is a cornerstone for a successful public health response to COVID-19. To deepen understanding of the extent to which vaccination coverage compares with initial strategies for equitable vaccination, we explore primary vaccine series and booster rollout over time and by race/ethnicity, social vulnerability, and geography.Methods and findingsWe analyzed data from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on all COVID-19 vaccinations administered across 7 counties in the St. Louis region and 4 counties in the Kansas City region. We compared rates of receiving the primary COVID-19 vaccine series and boosters relative to time, race/ethnicity, zip-code-level Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), vaccine location type, and COVID-19 disease burden. We adapted a well-established tool for measuring inequity-the Lorenz curve-to quantify inequities in COVID-19 vaccination relative to these key metrics. Between 15 December 2020 and 15 February 2022, 1,763,036 individuals completed the primary series and 872,324 received a booster. During early phases of the primary series rollout, Black and Hispanic individuals from high SVI zip codes were vaccinated at less than half the rate of White individuals from low SVI zip codes, but rates increased over time until they were higher than rates in White individuals after June 2021; Asian individuals maintained high levels of vaccination throughout. Increasing vaccination rates in Black and Hispanic communities corresponded with periods when more vaccinations were offered at small community-based sites such as pharmacies rather than larger health systems and mass vaccination sites. Using Lorenz curves, zip codes in the quartile with the lowest rates of primary series completion accounted for 19.3%, 18.1%, 10.8%, and 8.8% of vaccinations while representing 25% of the total population, cases, deaths, or population-level SVI, respectively. When tracking Gini coefficients, these disparities were greatest earlier during rollout, but improvements were slow and modest and vaccine disparities remained across all metrics even after 1 year. Patterns of disparities for boosters were similar but often of much greater magnitude during rollout in fall 2021. Study limitations include inherent limitations in the vaccine registry dataset such as missing and misclassified race/ethnicity and zip code variables and potential changes in zip code population sizes since census enumeration.ConclusionsInequities in the initial COVID-19 vaccination and booster rollout in 2 large US metropolitan areas were apparent across racial/ethnic communities, across levels of social vulnerability, over time, and across types of vaccination administration sites. Disparities in receipt of the primary vaccine series attenuated over time during a period in which sites of vaccination administration diversified, but were recapitulated during booster rollout. These findings highlight how public health strategies from the outset must directly target these deeply embedded structural and systemic determinants of disparities and track equity metrics over time to avoid perpetuating inequities in healthcare access.

Abstract Background Mask mandates have been a widely used public health tool during the COVID-19 pandemic, but how to optimize their impact in the setting of concurrent but spontaneous population-level behavior changes due to rising case counts is not known. This study aimed to examine how earlier or later mask mandate implementation in the context of spontaneous behavior change would have affected transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and severe COVID-19 outcomes in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Methods Our model utilized aggregated hospitalization and death data for St. Louis city and county residents admitted to nearly all hospitals in the metropolitan area. We first fit a real-life model to estimate changes in transmission after the July 3, 2020 mask mandate, and then created counterfactual scenarios in which 1) 10%, 25%, and 50% of the changes were attributed to the mandate (as opposed to spontaneous behavior change) and 2) the mandate was implemented 3 or 7 days earlier, or 7 or 14 days later. We used an SEIR (Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered) model framework and fit models in R. Results Assuming that 50% of increased masking was due to the mandate, implementing a mandate 7 days earlier was associated with a reduction from 12,685 (IQR: 10,463-16,560) to 12,294 (10,296-15,205) cumulative hospitalizations by September 30, while a 2-week delay was associated with an increase to 13,277 (10,808-17,908) hospitalizations. Trends were similar, but with reduced magnitude, when assuming that 10% or 25% of increased masking was due to the mandate (Figure). Depending on whether 10%, 25%, or 50% of increased masking was due to the mandate, implementing the mandate 1 week early was associated with a return to baseline (June 26) hospital census 1-7 days earlier, while delaying the mandate by 2 weeks led to a 2-12 day delay in return to baseline. Hospital census and cumulative deaths in the real-life (baseline) model and under 12 counterfactual scenarios which vary mask mandate timing (3 or 7 days earlier, or 7 or 14 days delayed) and percentage of increase in masking that is attributed to the mask mandate (Panels A-B: 10%, Panels C-D: 25%, and Panels E-F: 50%). As more of the increase in masking is attributed to the mandate, the costs of delaying the mandate and the benefits of earlier implementation increase. While differences in hospital census are most apparent several weeks after the mandate, differences in deaths gradually become more apparent over time. Conclusion Impact of a mask mandate depends on both timing and percent of increased masking that is attributed to the mandate. Implementing a mandate even a few days earlier is associated with fewer cumulative hospitalizations and earlier return to baseline, but the overall duration of implementation is slightly longer. Given wide variations in public behavior, locally-tailored models are essential for estimating the impact of interventions and informing the local public health response. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures.

Abstract Background Despite the availability of safe and efficacious coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines, a significant proportion of the American public remains unvaccinated and does not appear to be immediately interested in receiving the vaccine. Methods In this study, we analyzed data from the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, a biweekly cross-sectional survey of US households. We estimated the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy across states and nationally and assessed the predictors of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine rejection. In addition, we examined the underlying reasons for vaccine hesitancy, grouped into thematic categories. Results A total of 459 235 participants were surveyed from 6 January to 29 March 2021. While vaccine uptake increased from 7.7% to 47%, vaccine hesitancy rates remained relatively fixed: overall, 10.2% reported that they would probably not get a vaccine and 8.2% that they would definitely not get a vaccine. Income, education, and state political leaning strongly predicted vaccine hesitancy. However, while both female sex and black race were factors predicting hesitancy, among those who were hesitant, these same characteristics predicted vaccine reluctance rather than rejection. Those who expressed reluctance invoked mostly “deliberative” reasons, while those who rejected the vaccine were also likely to invoke reasons of “dissent” or “distrust.” Conclusions Vaccine hesitancy comprises a sizable proportion of the population and is large enough to threaten achieving herd immunity. Distinct subgroups of hesitancy have distinctive sociodemographic associations as well as cognitive and affective predilections. Segmented public health solutions are needed to target interventions and optimize vaccine uptake.

Background: Emergency departments (EDs) play an essential role in the timely initiation of HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for sexual assault victims. Methods: Retrospective analysis of sexual assault victims evaluated and offered HIV PEP in an urban academic ED between January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2018. Data on demographics, comorbidities, nature of sexual assault, initial ED care, subsequent healthcare utilization within 28 days of initial ED visit, and evidence of serocon version within 6 months of the initial ED visit were obtained. Predictors of subsequent ED visit and follow-up in the infectious diseases clinic were evaluated using logistic regression analysis. Results: Four hundred twenty-three ED visits met criteria for inclusion in this study. Median age at ED presentation was 25 years (IQR 21-34 years), with the majority of victims being female (95.5%), Black (63.4%), unemployed (66.3%) and uninsured (53.9%); psychiatric comorbidities (38.8%) and substance abuse (23.6%) were common. About 87% of the patients accepted HIV PEP (368 of 423 ED visits). Age (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-0.99, p = 0.025) and sexual assault involving >1 assailant (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.26-0.88, p = 0.018) were associated with lower likelihood of HIV PEP acceptance. Ten patients (2.7%) followed up with the infectious disease clinic within 28 days of starting HIV PEP; 70 patients (19%) returned to the ED for care during the same time period. Psychiatric comorbidity (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.43-4.30, p = 0.001) and anal penetration (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.10-3.70, p = 0.024) were associated with greater likelihood of repeat ED visit; female gender (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.11-0.85, p = 0.023) was associated with lower likelihood of repeat visit. Completion of HIV PEP was documented for 14 (3.3%) individuals. Conclusions: While ED patient acceptance of HIV PEP after sexual assault was high, infectious disease clinic follow-up and documented completion of PEP remained low. Innovative care models bridging EDs to outpatient clinics and community support services are needed to optimize transitions of care for sexual assault victims, including those receiving HIV PEP. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the US has been immensely successful in vaccinating those who are receptive, further increases in vaccination rates however will require more innovative approaches to reach those who remain hesitant, deliberative or indifferent. Phenomena such empty mass vaccination sites and wasted vaccine doses in some regions suggest that in addition to dispelling misinformation and building trust, developing more person-centered vaccination strategies, that are modelled on what people want could further increase uptake. To inform vaccine distribution strategies that are aligned with public preferences for COVID-19 vaccination campaign features we conducted a survey and discrete choice experiment among a representative sample of 2,895 people in the US, between March 15 and March 22, 2021. We found that on average the public prioritized ease, preferring single to two dose vaccinations, vaccinating once rather than annually and reduced waiting times at vaccination sites - for some these were the primary preference drivers. Vaccine enforcement reduced overall vaccine acceptance, with a trend of increasing ‘control aversion’ with increasing vaccine hesitancy, particularly among those who were young, Black/African American or Republican. These data suggest that making vaccination easy and promoting autonomy by offering the public choices of vaccination brands and locations may increase uptake, and that vaccine mandates could compromise autonomy and increase control aversion in those who are hesitant - reducing vaccination in such groups and potentially undermining the goals of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Significance DCE’s are a novel tool in public health that allow examination of preferences for a product, service or policy, identifying how the public prioritizes personal risks and cost in relation to health behaviors. Using this method to establish preferences for COVID-19 vaccination campaign strategies, our results suggest that: firstly, vaccination should be made as easy as possible for the public, second, that individuals should be offered choices of vaccine brand and vaccination location, and third, that vaccine enforcement could activate ‘control aversion’ in the public and particularly in those who are most hesitant – potentially causing these groups to double down on vaccine resistance, a scenario which would impede the success of vaccination programs in the US. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study was supported by funds from the Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO. I Eshun-Wilson and A Mody are supported by the NIH (KL2 TR002346). ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study was approved by the Washington University institutional review board and was exempted from a formal consent process, participants were provided with an introductory information sheet as part of the online survey. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes On publication the data will be made available in supplementary materials for the journal

This study employs risk terrain modeling to identify the spatial correlates of aggravated assault and homicide in St. Louis, MO. We build upon the empirical literature by (1) replicating recent research examining the role of vacancy in the concentration of criminal violence and (2) examining whether the environmental correlates of violence vary between north and south St. Louis, a boundary that has long divided the city along racial and socioeconomic lines. Our results indicate that vacancy presents a strong, consistent risk for both homicide and aggravated assault and that this pattern emerges most clearly in the northern part of the city which is majority African American and has suffered chronic disinvestment. The concentration of criminal violence in South City is driven primarily by public hubs including housing, transportation, and schools. Our results underscore the importance of vacancy as a driver of the spatial concentration of violent crime and point to potential heterogeneity in risk terrain modeling results when applied to large metropolitan areas. Situational crime prevention strategies would be well served to consider such spatial contingencies as the risk factors driving violent crime are neither uniformly distributed across space nor uniform in their impact on criminal violence.

Key Points Question Given the geographic heterogeneity of the COVID-19 pandemic, is it possible to assess the outcomes of delayed social distancing policies within any one geographic location? Findings In this decision analytical model of 1.3 million people in St Louis, Missouri, a delay of 2 weeks in public health policies initiated on March 17, 2020, was estimated to be associated with a nearly 6-fold total increase in deaths due to COVID-19 by June 15, 2020. Meaning These findings suggest that timely local social distancing policies are associated with the number of COVID-19–related hospitalizations and deaths; local public health policies may avoid more severe pandemic consequences even in a widespread pandemic.

Geocoding, the process of converting a street address into a pair of coordinates that facilitate mapping, is a perennial challenge for researchers. Both technical and practical barriers exist to geocoding itself and creating reproducible workflows that string multiple geocoders together (so‐called “composite” geocoders). This article presents a suite of open‐source tools designed to standardize American addresses and geocode them. These tools culminate in a composite geocoder for the city of St. Louis, Missouri, which serves as a proof‐of‐concept for developing sophisticated geocoding processes. We test this geocoder on a data set of 1,822 homicides for St. Louis between 2008 and 2018, comparing the results of our tools to a range of commercial providers. We find varying levels of efficiency and accuracy across the available commercial platforms and demonstrate that our in‐house tools provide high positional accuracy with significant efficiency increases.

Background The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the US has been immensely successful in vaccinating those who are receptive, further increases in vaccination rates however will require more innovative approaches to reach those who remain hesitant. Developing vaccination strategies that are modelled on what people want could further increase uptake. Methods and findings To inform COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategies that are aligned with public preferences we conducted a discrete choice experiment among the US public (N = 2,895) between March 15 to March 22, 2021. We applied sampling weights, evaluated mean preferences using mixed logit models, and identified latent class preference subgroups. On average, the public prioritized ease, preferring single to two dose vaccinations (mean preference: -0.29; 95%CI: -0.37 to -0.20), vaccinating once rather than annually (mean preference: -0.79; 95%CI: -0.89 to -0.70) and reducing waiting times at vaccination sites. Vaccine enforcement reduced overall vaccine acceptance (mean preference -0.20; 95%CI: -0.30 to -0.10), with a trend of increasing resistance to enforcement with increasing vaccine hesitancy. Latent class analysis identified four distinct preference phenotypes: the first prioritized inherent “vaccine features” (46.1%), the second were concerned about vaccine “service delivery” (8.8%), a third group desired “social proof” of vaccine safety and were susceptible to enforcement (13.2%), and the fourth group were “indifferent” to vaccine and service delivery features and resisted enforcement (31.9%). Conclusions This study identifies several critical insights for the COVID-19 public health response. First, identifying preference segments is essential to ensure that vaccination services meet the needs of diverse population subgroups. Second, making vaccination easy and promoting autonomy by simplifying services and offering the public choices (where feasible) may increase uptake in those who remain deliberative. And, third vaccine mandates have the potential to increase vaccination rates in susceptible groups but may simultaneously promote control aversion and resistance in those who are most hesitant.

BACKGROUND:The national rate of syphilis has increased among persons who inject drugs (PWID). Missouri is no exception, with increases in early syphilis (ES), congenital syphilis, and PWID, especially in nonurban counties.METHODS:Disease intervention specialist records for ES cases in Missouri (2012-2018) were examined. Drug use was classified as injection drug use (IDU) (opioid or methamphetamine) or non-IDU (opioid, methamphetamine, or cocaine). Rates were compared based on residence, sex of sex partner, and drug use.RESULTS:Rates of ES in Missouri increased 365%, particularly in small metropolitan and rural areas (1170%). Nonurban areas reported a higher percentage of persons with ES who used injection drugs (12%-15%) compared with urban regions (2%-5%). From 2012 to 2018, women comprised an increasing number of ES cases (8.3%-21%); 93% of women were of childbearing age. Increasingly more women in rural areas with ES also reported IDU during this time (8.4%-21.1%).CONCLUSIONS:As syphilis increases in small metropolitan and rural regions, access to high-quality and outreach-based sexual health services is imperative. Healthcare policy to equip health departments with harm reduction services and drug treatment resources offers an opportunity to impact both syphilis increases as well as health outcomes associated with IDU.

BACKGROUND:Disparities in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing-the pandemic's most critical but limited resource-may be an important but modifiable driver of COVID-19 inequities.METHODS:We analyzed data from the Missouri State Department of Health and Senior Services on all COVID-19 tests conducted in the St Louis and Kansas City regions. We adapted a well-established tool for measuring inequity-the Lorenz curve-to compare COVID-19 testing rates per diagnosed case among Black and White populations.RESULTS:Between 14/3/2020 and 15/9/2020, 606 725 and 328 204 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the St Louis and Kansas City regions, respectively. Over time, Black individuals consistently had approximately half the rate of testing per case than White individuals. In the early period (14/3/2020 to 15/6/2020), zip codes in the lowest quartile of testing rates accounted for only 12.1% and 8.8% of all tests in the St Louis and Kansas City regions, respectively, even though they accounted for 25% of all cases in each region. These zip codes had higher proportions of residents who were Black, without insurance, and with lower median incomes. These disparities were reduced but still persisted during later phases of the pandemic (16/6/2020 to 15/9/2020). Last, even within the same zip code, Black residents had lower rates of tests per case than White residents.CONCLUSIONS:Black populations had consistently lower COVID-19 testing rates per diagnosed case than White populations in 2 Missouri regions. Public health strategies should proactively focus on addressing equity gaps in COVID-19 testing to improve equity of the overall response.

BACKGROUND:Rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including chlamydia and gonorrhea are increasing in the United States while public health funding for STD services is decreasing. Individuals seek care in various locations including the emergency department (ED). The objective of this study is to investigate whether there are more physically proximal clinic-based STD care locations available to individuals who present to the ED in a major metropolitan area.METHODS:Addresses of EDs, clinics, and patients 13 years or older in St. Louis City or County given a nucleic acid amplification test and assigned an STD diagnosis (n = 6100) were geocoded. R was used to analyze clinics within 5 radii from the patients' home address and assess missed clinic opportunities (open, no charge, with walk-in availability) for those living in an urban versus suburban area.RESULTS:In urban areas, 99.1% of individuals lived closer to a clinic than the ED where they sought STD services; in suburban areas, 82.2% lived closer to a clinic than the ED where they presented. In the region, 50.6% lived closer to the health department-based STD care location than the hospital where they presented. Up to a third of ED patient visits for STD care could have occurred at a clinic that was closer to the patient's home address, open, no charge, and available for walk-in appointments.CONCLUSIONS:Clinic availability is present for most of the individuals in our study. Clinics providing STD services can increase advertising efforts to increase public awareness of the services which they provide.