Syphilis Seroprevalence in HIV-Positive Patients

Introduction: Today, syphilis and HIV go hand in hand because they affect similar risk groups. Both infections may facilitate acquisition of each other and may worsen the clinical course. In our study, it was aimed to determine the seroprevalence of syphilis in the HIV positive patient population. Materials and Methods: Patients over the age of 18 who were found to be HIV ELISA test positivity and confirmed between June 2018 and December 2019 were included in the study. Age, gender, HIV-RNA Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) and rapid plasma reagin (RPR) results of the patients were evaluated retrospectively. Patients with positive RPR results were analyzed in three categories. First category; syphilis under treatment, second category; treatment and cure, and the third category was syphilis reinfection under treatment. Results: 261 patients were included in the study. TPHA was positive in 27.9% of the patients, and RPR was positive in 14.9% of the patients. 98.6% of TPHA positive patients were male patients and 91.7% of these patients were over 25 years of age. 14.9% of patients with positive TPHA were also found to be positive in RPR. HIV-RNA was positive in 69.2% of the patients who were found to be positive for TPHA and RPR, and the HIV-RNA level was found to be 1000 copies/mL and above in 43.5% of these patients. HIV RNA was positive in 82.4% of 34 patients who were found to be TPHA positive and RPR negative. No significant correlation was found between RPR positivity and HIV RNA positivity (p= 0.882). According to the RPR titer, 51.3% of the patients were classified in Category 1, 28.2% in Category 2 and 20.5% in Category 3. Conclusion: Concomitant syphilis infection is common in HIV-positive individuals. Therefore, routine screening of other STDs in the presence of sexually transmitted disease (STD) is of great importance. We believe that our data can provide a basis for future studies on the prevention and eradication of HIV/syphilis infections.

Automated summary

Syphilis and HIV have a strong association and co-infection is common in HIV-positive individuals. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of syphilis in HIV-positive patients and found that a significant proportion of patients were positive for both syphilis and HIV-RNA. Routine screening for other sexually transmitted diseases is crucial in the presence of STDs. The findings provide important insights into future research on the prevention and eradication of HIV/syphilis infections.