Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a public health emergency. The widely used reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) method has limitations for clinical diagnosis and treatment. A total of 323 samples from 76 COVID-19 confirmed patients were analyzed by droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and RT-PCR based two target genes (ORF1ab and N). Nasal swabs, throat swabs, sputum, blood, and urine were collected. Clinical and imaging data were obtained for clinical staging. In 95 samples tested positive by both methods, the cycle threshold (Ct) of RT-PCR was highly correlated with the copy numbed of ddPCR (ORF1ab gene, R² = 0.83; N gene, R² = 0.87). 4 (4/161) negative and 41 (41/67) single-gene positive samples tested by RT-PCR were positive according to ddPCR with viral load ranging from 11.1 to 123.2 copies/test. Then the viral load of respiratory samples was compared and the average viral load in sputum (17429 ± 6920 copies/test) was found to be significantly higher than in throat swabs (2552 ± 1965 copies/test, p < 0.001) and nasal swabs (651 ± 501 copies/test, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the viral load in the early and progressive stages were significantly higher than that in the recovery stage (46800 ± 17272 vs 1252 ± 1027, p < 0.001) analyzed by sputum samples. Quantitative monitoring of viral load in lower respiratory tract samples helps to evaluate disease progression, especially in cases of low viral load.

China's National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program began in 2002 and, by August 2008, included more than 52 000 patients. To report 5-year outcomes on adult mortality and immunologic treatment failure rates and risk factors. Open cohort analysis of a prospectively collected, observational database. China. All patients in the national treatment database from June 2002 to August 2008. Patients were excluded if they had not started triple therapy or had missing treatment regimen information. Antiretroviral therapy according to Chinese national treatment guidelines. Mortality rate and immunologic treatment failure rate, according to World Health Organization criteria. Of 52 191 patients, 48 785 were included. Median age was 38 years, 58% were men, 53% were infected through plasma or blood, and the median baseline CD4 cell count was 0.118 × 10⁹ cells/L. Mortality was greatest during the first 3 months of treatment (22.6 deaths per 100 person-years) but decreased to a steady rate of 4 to 5 deaths per 100 person-years after 6 months and maintained this rate over the subsequent 4.5 years. The strongest mortality risk factors were a baseline CD4 cell count less than 0.050 × 10⁹ cells/L (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] compared with a count ≥0.200 × 10⁹ cells/L, 3.3 [95% CI, 2.9 to 3.8]) and having 4 to 5 baseline symptom categories (adjusted HR compared with no baseline symptom categories, 3.4 [CI, 2.9 to 4.0]). Treatment failure was determined among 31 070 patients with 1 or more follow-up CD4 cell counts. Overall, treatment failed for 25% of patients (12.0 treatment failures per 100 person-years), with the cumulative treatment failure rate increasing to 50% at 5 years. Immunologic treatment failure does not necessarily correlate well with virologic treatment failure. The National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program reduced mortality among adult patients in China with AIDS to rates similar to those of other low- or middle-income countries. A cumulative immunologic treatment failure rate of 50% after 5 years, due to the limited availability of second-line regimens, is of great concern. China Ministry of Health, U.S. National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Global AIDS Program.

To respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China, the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention established the Division of Treatment and Care in late 2001. The pilot for the National Free ART Program began in Henan Province in 2002, and the program fully began in 2003. Treatment efforts initially focused on patients infected through illicit blood and plasma donation in the mid-1990s and subsequently expanded to include HIV-infected injection drug users, commercial sex workers, pregnant women, and children. The National Free ART Database was established in late 2004, and includes data on current patients and those treated before 2004. Over 31 000 adult and pediatric patients have been treated thus far. Challenges for the program include integration of drug treatment services with ART, an under-resourced health care system, co-infections, stigma, discrimination, drug resistance, and procurement of second-line ART. The merging of national treatment and care, epidemiologic, and drug resistance databases will be critical for a better understanding of the epidemic, for earlier identification of patients requiring ART, and for improved patient follow-up. The Free ART Program has made considerable progress in providing the necessary care and treatment for HIV-infected people in China and has strong government support for continued improvement and expansion.

Background.In China, many former plasma donors were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the early–mid-1990s. Highly active antire