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Awareness of HIV status in Malawi is 88.3% and lowest among 15–24-year-olds (76.2%). There is a need to understand HIV testing history and transmission in this age group. We analyzed pooled HIV surveillance data to describe testing history and HIV recent infection among 8,389 HIV-positive 15–24-year-olds from 251 sites in Malawi between 2019 and 2022. Most HIV-positive 15–24-year-olds were female; aged 23–24 years; rural residents; and diagnosed at voluntary counseling and testing. No prior HIV testing was reported in 43.5% and 32.9% of 15–19-year-olds and males, respectively. Overall, 4.9% of HIV-positive diagnoses were classified as recent HIV infections, with the highest proportions among breastfeeding women (8.2%); persons tested at sexually transmitted infection clinics (9.0%); persons with a prior negative test within 6 months (13.0%); and 17–18-year-olds (7.3%). Tailored and innovative HIV prevention and testing strategies for young adolescents, young males, and pregnant and breastfeeding women are needed for HIV epidemic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Malawi Ministry of Health implemented a new surveillance activity in April 2019 to detect recent HIV infections using a rapid test for recent infection (RTRI) to identify areas of ongoing transmission and guide response activities. Setting: At 23 health facilities in Blantyre District, healthcare workers (HCWs) were trained to conduct recent infection testing. In September 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional survey at these sites to explore the acceptability and feasibility of integrating this activity into routine HIV testing services (HTS). Methods: Research assistants interviewed HCWs using a semi-structured survey. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize quantitative responses and thematic analysis was used to group open-ended text. Results: We interviewed 119 HCWs. Eighty-two percent of participants reported the RTRI was easy-to-use. HCWs perceived high client acceptability; 100% reported clients as 'somewhat' or 'very accepting'. Challenges included 68% of HCWs estimating they spend ≥20 min beyond routine HTS per client for this activity and 51% performing at least two additional finger pricks to complete the testing algorithm. HCWs differed in their perceptions of whether results should be returned to clients. Conclusion: This study assessed HCW experiences using point-of-care RTRIs for HIV recent infection surveillance. Overall, HCWs perceived RTRIs to be acceptable, easy-to-use, and valuable. Though only clients with new HIV diagnoses are tested for recent infection, additional time may be substantial at high-volume health service delivery points. Providing response plans or aggregated recent infection results to HCWs and/or clients may support motivation and sustainability of this novel surveillance activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The affiliations assignment is corrected in the author list of this Correction article and the original article [[1]] has been updated. B Correction: BMC Health Serv Res 22, 341 (2022) b B https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07600-7 b Following publication of the original article [[1]], the authors identified an error in the affiliations stated for the last author, Salem Gugsa. Correction: Acceptability and feasibility of HIV recent infection surveillance by healthcare workers using a rapid test for recent infection at HIV testing sites - Malawi, 2019. [Extracted from the article]