Unit:
ΠΜΣ Διεθνής Ιατρική - Διαχείριση Κρίσεων ΥγείαςLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Author:
Fragkiskou Evgenia
Supervisors info:
Κοντός Μιχαήλ, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Στεργιόπουλος Σπυρίδων, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Γεωργόπουλος Σωτήριος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Σύφιλη σε οροθετικούς (HIV+) ασθενείς ΜΕΛ, μονοκεντρική μελέτη
Translated title:
Syphilis in a cohort of HIV positive patients: a single center study
Summary:
Introduction/Background: In the 21st century, syphilis and HIV/AIDS infection still remain major global public health problems, as 12 million new cases of syphilis occur annually and HIV has caused 35 million loss of human lives since the start of the epidemic. In recent years there has been an increase in syphilis incidence among seropositive patients, both in Greece and globally, and nearly 50% occurred among MSM.
Objective: The primary objective of the present study is the longitudinal recording of syphilis incidence trends among seropositive patients and the association with demographic, epidemiological, clinical and behavioral factors.
Methods: We conducted a monocentric, retrospective, descriptive cohort study in a cohort of 1776 HIV+ patients in the period from 2004 to 2016 in the Special Infectious Diseases Unit of the General Hospital of "Evangelismos" in Athens. The demographic, clinical and social characteristics of 259 patients with a history of syphilis infection were analyzed and recorded. Data collection was mainly based on the medical file database "Nadis 2000" and the Hospital’s Health Information System “Emrora”. Statistical analysis was carried out with the statistical software Stata version 14.
Results: A gradual increase in the incidence of syphilis in seropositive patients after 2008 (from 1.5 to 5.6 episodes per 100 person-year follow-up) was observed. The majority of patients were men (96.1%), of Greek origin (87.6%), and MSM (74.5%). 17.4% of the patients were infected with syphilis more than once. The most frequent form of the first episode was secondary syphilis (31.3%), while reinfections were mainly categorized as primary early syphilis (52.3%/60%). New infections remained relatively stable through time, while rates of re-infections show a steady increase. 22% of the patients was coinfected with hepatitis, with more prevalent hepatitis C (10%) and 15.1% was infected with HPV. 31.3% of the patients reported alcohol consumption, 43.9% of nicotine and 22.8% drugs.
Conclusions/Discussion: Targeted public health interventions in order to manage HIV/syphilis co-infection, particularly among seropositive MSM, who affected disproportionally, are needed. The diagnosis of STDs and the assessment of sexual health in HIV (+) patients are crucial and should trigger the clinician’s suspicion for high-risk sexual behavior.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Syphilis, Incidence, Men Who Have Sex With MEN-MSM, Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Infections-STD/Is, HIV/AIDS
Number of references:
153
