{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T16:57:50Z","timestamp":1785430670020,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770336000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) recency assays are essential for distinguishing recent infections (\u2264 12 months) from long-term infections, enabling targeted interventions. Western province, Zambia, has the nation\u2019s highest HIV prevalence (16%), yet recent infection data in Mongu District remain unknown.\nAim:\u00a0To determine the burden of recent HIV infection and associated factors in Mongu District, Western province, Zambia.\nSetting:\u00a0The study was conducted in Mongu district, a provincial town in Western province in Zambia.\nMethods:\u00a0This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted from 12 February 2024 to 30 May 2024 in 19 health facilities in Mongu District offering HIV testing services (HTS), using Asante recency test kits to identify recent infections. A total of 771 newly diagnosed individuals were included, and logistic regression analysis was employed to identify factors associated with recent infections, with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) calculated, and significance determined at a\u00a0p-value &lt; 0.05.\nResults:\u00a0Among 771 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-na\u00efve individuals (median age 27 years; 71% female participants), 34% (n\u00a0= 262) were identified as recent infections. Participants with medium (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 13.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.85\u201330.83) or low (AOR = 13.33, 95% CI: 5.67\u201331.33) HIV knowledge had higher odds compared to those with high knowledge (p\u00a0&lt; 0.001). Unsuppressed viral load (VL) (\u2265 1000 copies\/mL) showed the strongest association (AOR = 852.1, 95% CI: 521.1\u20131432;\u00a0p\u00a0&lt; 0.001). Cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) counts &lt; 200 cells\/mm3\u00a0had 1848-fold higher odds (AOR = 1848.2, 95% CI: 192.8\u201317714.1;\u00a0p\u00a0&lt; 0.001). Clients who entered through the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission had higher odds (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.67, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11 \u2013 6.11,\u00a0p\u00a0= 0.028) compared to the reference group.\nConclusion:\u00a0Mongu District exhibits alarmingly high recent HIV infections (34%), concentrated among youth, women, and individuals with suboptimal knowledge.\nContribution:\u00a0These findings underscore the urgent need for scaling recency testing, strengthening youth-focused prevention, and improving HIV literacy as critical public health priorities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/phcfm.v18i1.5202","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T06:52:48Z","timestamp":1770360768000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Alarmingly high recent human immunodeficiency virus infection burden among newly diagnosed individuals in Mongu District, Zambia"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-6203-7794","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Masiliso A.","family":"Liamba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00hpqmv06","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Ministry of Health"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2360-2752","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nawa","family":"Mukumbata","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04gd6vy83","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Levy Mwanawasa Medical University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4376-5831","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sepiso K.","family":"Masenga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/02vmcxs72","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Mulungushi University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","unstructured":"HIV Statistics \u2013 Global and regional trends [homepage on the Internet]. UNICEF DATA. 2025 Jul [cited 2025 Nov 3]. Available from: https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/topic\/hivaids\/global-regional-trends\/"},{"key":"ref1","unstructured":"Tapologo N, Abubaker Q. Detection of new HIV cases under epidemic control \u2013 When is it the right time to review HIV testing algorithms for countries nearing the 95-95-95 milestones? Case study \u2013 Botswana. Afr J Infect Dis. 2024;19(1):64\u201378."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kumah E, Boakye DS, Boateng R, Agyei E. Advancing the global fight against HIV\/AIDS: Strategies, barriers, and the road to eradication. Ann Glob Health. 2023;89(1):a4277. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5334\/aogh.4277","DOI":"10.5334\/aogh.4277"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mweemba C, Hangoma P, Fwemba I, Mutale W, Masiye F. Estimating district HIV prevalence in Zambia using small-area estimation methods (SAE). 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BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2014;14(1):328. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/1471-2393-14-328","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2393-14-328"}],"container-title":["African Journal of Primary Health Care &amp; Family Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/view\/5202\/9061","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T06:52:51Z","timestamp":1770360771000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/view\/5202"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]]},"references-count":17,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/phcfm.v18i1.5202","relation":{},"ISSN":["2071-2928","2071-2936"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2071-2928","type":"print"},{"value":"2071-2936","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]]},"article-number":"a5202"}}