TY - JOUR TI - Phylodynamics helps to evaluate the impact of an HIV prevention intervention AU - Vasylyeva, T.I. AU - Zarebski, A. AU - Smyrnov, P. AU - Williams, L.D. AU - Korobchuk, A. AU - Liulchuk, M. AU - Zadorozhna, V. AU - Nikolopoulos, G. AU - Paraskevis, D. AU - Schneider, J. AU - Skaathun, B. AU - Pybus, O.G. AU - Friedman, S.R. JO - Virus Bulletin PY - 2020 VL - 12 TODO - 4 SP - null PB - MDPI AG SN - 0956-9979 TODO - 10.3390/v12040469 TODO - age; article; city; Human immunodeficiency virus; major clinical study; molecular epidemiology; nonhuman; virus load; classification; genetics; human; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Human immunodeficiency virus infection; phylogeny; virology, Pol protein, HIV Infections; HIV-1; Humans; Molecular Epidemiology; Phylogeny; pol Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; Viral Load TODO - Assessment of the long-term population-level effects of HIV interventions is an ongoing public health challenge. Following the implementation of a Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP) in Odessa, Ukraine, in 2013-2016, we obtained HIV pol gene sequences and used phylogenetics to identify HIV transmission clusters. We further applied the birth-death skyline model to the sequences from Odessa (n = 275) and Kyiv (n = 92) in order to estimate changes in the epidemic's effective reproductive number (Re) and rate of becoming uninfectious (δ). We identified 12 transmission clusters in Odessa; phylogenetic clustering was correlated with younger age and higher average viral load at the time of sampling. Estimated Re were similar in Odessa and Kyiv before the initiation of TRIP; Re started to decline in 2013 and is now below Re = 1 in Odessa (Re = 0.4, 95%HPD 0.06-0.75), but not in Kyiv (Re = 2.3, 95%HPD 0.2-5.4). Similarly, estimates of δ increased in Odessa after the initiation of TRIP. Given that both cities shared the same HIV prevention programs in 2013-2019, apart from TRIP, the observed changes in transmission parameters are likely attributable to the TRIP intervention. We propose that molecular epidemiology analysis can be used as a post-intervention effectiveness assessment tool. © 2020 by the authors. ER -