Characteristics of Persons Who Inject Drugs with Recent HIV Infection in the United States: National HIV Behavioral Surveillance, 2012

We evaluated characteristics associated with recent HIV infection among persons who inject drugs (PWID) from 19 U.S. cities who participated in 2012 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance. Recent infection was defined as having a reactive HIV test, a Bio-Rad Avidity index cutoff ≤ 30%, no reported HIV diagnosis ≥ 12 months before interview, and no evidence of viral suppression. Of 8667 PWID, 50 (0.6%) were recently HIV infected. Having a greater number of sex partners (≥ 2 partners vs. 0) [prevalence ratio (PR) 4.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3–17.8], injecting heroin and other drugs (PR 3.0, 95% CI 1.3–6.6) or exclusively non-heroin drugs (PR 5.9, 95% CI 1.7–20.7) compared to injecting only heroin, and having male–male sex in the past year (PR 7.1, 95% CI 3.0–16.6) were associated with recent infection. Promoting not only safe injection practices but also safe sex practices will be key to preventing new HIV infections.