Understanding the current epidemiology of COVID-19 is of urgent importance in light of the continued pandemic. Given current testing guidelines, the number of individuals within the Charleston, South Carolina area who have had COVID-19 is unknown. Many such individuals may have been asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. Thus, the number of confirmed cases, those who are or have been symptomatic and tested for COVID-19, is most likely a significant underrepresentation of the community seroprevalence of the virus. The purpose of this study is to determine the number of prior COVID-19 infections that are present in the Charleston area among adults, and to evaluate characteristics associated with infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.
HIV testing is often shunned in community settings due to the stigma of HIV-centric services. Our recent pilot study strongly suggest that integration of a package of screening that include HIV, diabetes, and hypertension hold promise of substantially increasing the uptake of HIV testing while simultaneously providing direly needed community screening for non-communicable disease (NCDs) like diabetes and hypertension, which themselves are at epidemic levels in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study will examine whether integrating HIV screening with NCD screening will improve uptake of HIV testing and whether integrating HIV and NCD care will improve retention.