The Development and Implementation of an Outreach Program to Identify Acute and Recent HIV Infections in New York City

INTRODUCTION Since 2004, the authors have been operating First Call NYU, an outreach program to identify acute and recent HIV infections, also called primary HIV infections, among targeted at-risk communities in the New York City (NYC) metropolitan area. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY First Call NYU employed mass media advertising campaigns, outreach to healthcare providers in NYC, and Internet-based efforts including search engine optimization (SEO) and Internet-based advertising to achieve these goals. RESULTS Between October 2004 and October 2008, 571 individuals were screened through this program, leading to 446 unique, in-person screening visits. 47 primary HIV infections, including 14 acute and 33 recent HIV infections, were identified. DISCUSSION Internet and traditional recruitment methods can be used to increase self-referrals for screening following possible exposure to HIV. CONCLUSION Community education of at-risk groups, with the goal of increased self-diagnosis of possible acute HIV infection, may be a useful addition to traditional efforts to identify such individuals.