Background
HIV-syphilis co-infection can enhance the rapid progression of early or late latent syphilis to neurosyphilis and can cause catastrophic neurological complications. In studies in Mwanza, syphilis affects ~ 8% of healthy outpatients and studies done in the 1990s have suggested that up to 23.5% of HIV-syphilis co-infected patients also have neurosyphilis.
Methodology
This was a cross sectional study in which adult HIV infected patients who were hospitalized or attending the outpatient Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire and screened for syphilis using serum Treponema Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay (TPHA). Blood was also taken for CD4+ T cells and viral load. Those who were found to have syphilis underwent neurological examination for any neurologic deficit and were offered a lumbar puncture.
Results
The prevalence of syphilis in HIV infected patients was found to be 9.6%. The majority of patients were female (72.5%) and median age was 42 years [interquartile range, 32–50]. Most patients were on ART (99.4%). In the study population of 1748 participants, 9.6% were TPHA positive; the majority (89.2%) reported not knowing their syphilis status and not previously been treated. One hundred and forty-one participants with syphilis had neurological examinations performed. Four of these had abnormal findings that necessitated a lumbar puncture. Neurosyphilis was confirmed in one patient (0.7%).
Conclusion
The high prevalence of syphilis in HIV infected patients indicates that there is a need to increase efforts in targeting this population to reduce sexually transmitted infections. Screening for syphilis should be done for all HIV patients given the high prevalence of the infection and the risk that aggressive forms of neurosyphilis can occur despite recovery of CD4+ T cell counts in untreated syphilis.
Background: HIV-syphilis co-infection can enhance the rapid progression of early or late latent syphilis to neurosyphilis and can cause catastrophic neurological complications. In studies in Mwanza, syphilis affects ~8% of healthy outpatients and studies done in the 1990s have suggested that up to 23.5% of HIV-syphilis co-infected patients also have neurosyphilis.Methodology: This was a cross sectional study in which adult HIV infected patients who were hospitalized or attending the outpatient Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire and screened for syphilis using serum Treponema Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay (TPHA). Blood was also taken for CD4+ T cells and viral load. Those who were found to have syphilis underwent neurological examination for any neurologic deficit and were offered a lumbar puncture. Results: The prevalence of syphilis in HIV infected patients was found to be 9.6%. The majority of patients were female (72.5%) and median age was 42 years [interquartile range, 32-50]. Most patients were on ART (99.4%). In the study population of 1748 participants, 9.6% were TPHA positive; the majority (89.2%) reported not knowing their syphilis status and not previously been treated. One hundred and forty-one participants with syphilis had neurological examinations performed. Four of these had abnormal findings that necessitated a lumbar puncture. Neurosyphilis was confirmed in one patient (0.7%).Conclusion: The high prevalence of syphilis in HIV infected patients indicates that there is a need to increase efforts in targeting this population to reduce sexually transmitted infections. Screening for syphilis should be done for all HIV patients given the high prevalence of the infection and the risk that aggressive forms of neurosyphilis can occur despite recovery of CD4+ T cell counts in untreated syphilis.
BACKGROUND HIV-syphilis co-infection is a combination that enhances rapid progression of early syphilis or late latent syphilis to neurosyphilis and can cause catastrophic neurological complications. In studies in Mwanza, syphilis affects ~8% of healthy outpatients, and older studies have suggested that up to 23.5% of HIV-syphilis co-infected patients also have neurosyphilis
Background: HIV-syphilis co-infection is a combination that enhances rapid progression of early syphilis or late latent syphilis to neurosyphilis and can cause catastrophic neurological complications. In studies in Mwanza, syphilis affects ~8% of healthy outpatients, and older studies have suggested that up to 23.5% of HIV-syphilis co-infected patients also have neurosyphilis. The study aimed at determining the prevalence of syphilis, neurosyphilis and associated factors among HIV infected patients attending Bugando Medical Center.Methods: This was a cross sectional study in which HIV infected patients who were hospitalized or attending the outpatient Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) were interviewed using structured questionnaire and screened for syphilis using serum Treponema Pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA). We included all HIV-infected persons aged 18 years and above who consented. Blood was also taken for CD4+ T cells and viral load. Those who were found to have syphilis underwent neurological examination for any neurologic deficit and offered lumbar puncture.Results: The prevalence of syphilis in HIV infected patients was found to be 9.6%. The majority of these were female (72.5%) and median age was 42 years [interquartile range, 32-50]. Most patients were on ART (99.4%).The majority of participants with syphilis (89.2%) reported not knowing that they had syphilis, and had not previously been treated. One hundred forty one participants with syphilis had neurological examinations performed, 4 of whom had abnormal findings that necessitated that they undergo lumbar puncture. One of these had confirmed neurosyphilis.Conclusion: The high prevalence of syphilis in HIV infected patients indicates that there is a need to increase efforts in targeting this population to reduce sexually transmitted infections. Screening for syphilis should be done for all HIV patients given the high prevalence of the infection and the risk that aggressive forms of neurosyphilis can occur despite recovery of CD4+Tcell counts in untreated syphilis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.