Hassan A, et al. - Given that public health action combatting HIV involves aiding navigation through the HIV continuum of care — timely diagnosis followed by linkage to care and initiation of antiretroviral therapy to suppress viral replication — and that recognition of rapidly growing HIV genetic transmission clusters could be done via molecular epidemiology, researchers here sought to characterize how progression through the care continuum relates to transmission clusters. HIV surveillance data from 5,226 adult cases in Los Angeles County diagnosed between 2010 through 2014 were included in this retrospective study. Using HIV-TRACE, the construction of genetic transmission clusters was done. In contrast to the expectations, individuals in clusters with different growth dynamics exhibited no differences in time to the care continuum events. However, upon achieving viral suppression, slower viral rebound was observed among individuals in high growth clusters vs those in low growth clusters. They observed highly significant heterogeneity correlated with cluster membership in the timing to each event in the care continuum, with and without adjustment for transmission risk and demographics. These findings suggest the possible value of molecular epidemiology in aiding public health officials for identification of clusters of individuals who may profit from assistance in navigating the HIV care continuum.