OBJECTIVES: This retrospective, observational, non-interventional study describes the demographics, characteristics, immunological and virological status, coinfections, healthcare unit of HIV diagnosis and follow-up status of Ukrainian refugees with newly diagnosed HIV in the Czech Republic, with a special focus on those with a late HIV diagnosis. METHODS: Ukrainian nationals with war refugee status, Ukrainian nationals with Czech Republic resident status and Czech Republic nationals who newly registered at HIV centres in the Czech Republic between March 2022 and June 2023 with a new diagnosis of HIV were included. Data were collected from medical records. The study was registered with the Czech State Institute for Drug Control (ID 2401240000). RESULTS: In total, 298 patients with a new HIV diagnosis were included in the study. Of these, 58 patients were Ukrainian refugees who were retained in care. This cohort had a mean age of 37.0 years (min-max 13-60) and most (62.1%) were women. More than half of the Ukrainian refugees in this study (60.3%) had a late HIV diagnosis; these patients were older than those with a prompt diagnosis (mean age 40.7 vs. 31.5 years, p < 0.001). Ukrainian refugees were infrequently diagnosed in primary care and significantly more likely to have a late HIV diagnosis (60.3% vs. 37.8%, p = 0.005) and be diagnosed at a later HIV stage (p = 0.021) than Czech nationals. CONCLUSION: Ukrainian refugees were more likely to have a late HIV diagnosis than Czech nationals.

1st 2nd and 3rd Medical Faculty Charles University Prague Czech Republic

1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

3rd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and Military University Hospital Prague Prague Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine Faculty of Medicine Pilsen Charles University Pilsen Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases Bulovka University Hospital Prague Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases České Budějovice Hospital České Budějovice Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases Liberec Regional Hospital Liberec Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases University Hospital Brno Brno Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases University Hospital Hradec Králové Hradec Králové Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases University Hospital Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic

Faculty of Medicine Comenius University Bratislava Slovakia

Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Brno Brno Czech Republic

Faculty of Medicine University of Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic

Gilead Sciences Praha Czech Republic

HIV AIDS Centre Clinic of Infectious Diseases Akademika Ladislava D'erera University Hospital Bratislava Bratislava Slovakia

Masaryk Hospital Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

National Institute of Public Health Praha Czech Republic

University Hospital Pilsen Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

UNAIDS . SITREP: UNAIDS' Response to the Crisis in Ukraine. 2023. Accessed 4 April, 2024. https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/Ukraine-SitRep.pdf

World Health Organization . Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA). 2023. Accessed 4 April, 2024. https://extranet.who.int/ssa/Index.aspx

The Lancet Infectious Diseases . War and infectious diseases: brothers in arms. Lancet Infect Dis. 2022;22:563. PubMed

Ukraine Public Health Centre . HIV Infection in Ukraine. 2022. Accessed 4 April, 2024. https://phc.org.ua/sites/default/files/users/user90/HIV_in_UA_53_2022_EN.pdf

UNAIDS . One Year On: We Must Sustain the HIV Response in Ukraine. 2022. Accessed 11 December, 2023. https://www.unaids.org/en/War-Ukraine-special

UNAIDS . Understanding Fast‐Track: Accelerating Action to End the AIDS Epidemic by 2030. 2015. Accessed 4 April, 2024. https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/201506_JC2743_Understanding_FastTrack_en.pdf

Ukraine Public Health Centre . Statistics on HIV/AIDS. 2024. Accessed 3 March, 2024. https://www.phc.org.ua/kontrol-zakhvoryuvan/vilsnid/statistika-z-vilsnidu

Massmann R, Groh T, Jilich D, et al. HIV‐positive Ukrainian refugees in The Czech Republic. Aids. 2023;37:1811‐1818. PubMed PMC

aidsmap . HIV Services in Ukraine Resilient But Starting to Feel the Strain. 2023. Accessed 4 April, 2024. https://www.aidsmap.com/news/oct-2023/hiv-services-ukraine-resilient-starting-feel-strain

Eurostat . Number of People Under Temporary Protection at 4.3 Million. 2024. Accessed 18 April, 2024. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20240308-3

Operational Data Portal . Ukraine Refugee Situation. 2024. Accessed 3 April, 2024. https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine

European Commission . Czech Republic: Amendment to the Laws “Lex Ukraine II” Enters Into Force. 2022. Accessed 4 April, 2024. https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/czech-republic-amendment-laws-lex-ukraine-ii-enters-force_en

Státní zdravotní ústav . Trendy vývoje a výskyt HIV/AIDS v ČR – předběžné údaje ze systému surveillance za rok 2023, zpracované NRL pro HIV/AIDS. 2023. Accessed 19 March, 2024. https://szu.cz/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/HIV-AIDS-v-CR-grafy-k-predbeznym-udajum-za-rok-2023-zpracovanym-NRL-pro-HIV-AIDS-SZU.pdf

Chrysostomou AC, Topcu C, Stylianou DC, Hezka J, Kostrikis LG. Development of a new comprehensive HIV‐1 genotypic drug resistance assay for all commercially available reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase inhibitors in patients infected with group M HIV‐1 strains. Infect Genet Evol. 2020;81:104243. PubMed

Stanford University . HIV Drug Resistance Database. 2024. Accessed 20 March, 2024. https://hivdb.stanford.edu/

Castro KG, Ward JW, Slutsker L, et al. 1993 revised classification system for HIV infection and expanded surveillance case definition for AIDS among adolescents and adults. MMWR Recomm Rep. 1992;41:1‐19. PubMed

Croxford S, Stengaard AR, Brännström J, et al. Late diagnosis of HIV: an updated consensus definition. HIV Med. 2022;23:1202‐1208. PubMed PMC

Boardman E, Boffito M, Chadwick DR, et al. Tackling late HIV diagnosis: lessons from the UK in the COVID‐19 era. Int J STD AIDS. 2024;35:244‐253. PubMed PMC

HIV.gov . HIV and Hepatitis B and C Coinfection. 2024. Accessed 7 February, 2024. https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/staying-in-hiv-care/other-related-health-issues/hepatitis-b-and-c/

Library of Congress . Ukraine: Martial Law Introduced in Response to Russian Invasion. 2022. Accessed 4 April, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/item/global‐legal‐monitor/2022‐03‐03/ukraine‐martial‐law‐introduced‐in‐response‐to‐russian‐invasion/

Ahrenstorf G, Dopfer‐Jablonka A, Joean O, et al. Status of HIV and comorbidities in refugees with HIV from Ukraine. HIV Med. 2024;25(4):479‐483. PubMed

World Health Organization . HIV/AIDS Surveillance in Europe. 2024. Accessed 22 January, 2025. https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/HIV_Surveillance_Report_2024.pdf

European AIDS Clinical Society . Guidelines: Version 12.0. 2023. Accessed 7 February, 2024. https://www.eacsociety.org/media/guidelines-12.0.pdf

Czech Republic National Institute of Public Health . Homepage. 2024. Accessed 22 January, 2025. https://tadyted.com/en/home-3/

Státní zdravotní ústav . HIV – Legislativa. 2024. Accessed 26 February, 2024. https://www.nzip.cz/clanek/330-hiv-legislativa