HIV antibody in persons screened for syphilis: prevalence in a New York City emergency room and primary care clinics

Article Abstract:

Nationally, the incidence of syphilis declined in the four years before 1987, but then began to increase once more. The increases are primarily occurring among nonwhite heterosexual men and white and nonwhite women, but not among homosexual or bisexual males, who previously constituted a high-risk group. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; the cause of AIDS) infection rates have been similarly increasing, and the increase has been linked to nonwhite heterosexual intravenous drug users and their partners but again not to homosexuals or bisexual men. These national trends have also been observed in the Bronx, New York City, and HIV infection rates among military applicants are among the highest nationally. The prevalence of HIV infection and of syphilis was studied in an anonymous survey of 549 blood samples obtained from people screened for syphilis in the Bronx. Eighty-nine percent of samples were from medical or pediatric clinics, while 11.1 percent were from an emergency room. Antibody against HIV was found in blood from 27 men and 2 women and increased in frequency as age increased up to 39 years. There was no relationship to racial or ethnic background. HIV seropositivity was greatest among samples from the emergency room. There were 21 positive tests for syphilis, and this was three times as likely in men. The presence of syphilis was strongly related to HIV infection in both sexes, but the correlation was 15 times stronger in women. The linkage between syphilis and HIV infection may be related to particular behaviors as well to enhanced HIV transmission in the presence of genital ulcers caused by syphilis (or other diseases). The study suggests that strategies to prevent AIDS may reach populations at risk by focusing on subjects treated for sexually transmitted diseases in emergency rooms and outpatient clinics in areas where HIV is prevalent. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Risk factors, HIV infection, HIV infections, New York, New York, New York, HIV seropositivity, HIV positive

---

The epidemiology of early syphilis in Houston, Texas, 1994-1995

Article Abstract:

Patients identified with syphilis infections in Houston between 1994 and 1995 appear to come predominantly from a cluster of inner-city neighborhoods. Infected women seem to delay medical treatment longer than men. Routine questionnaires were completed by 2,598 Houston residents with early-stage syphilis infections. Most patients lived in a cluster of communities east of the city's center. Three and a half times more men than women had a syphilis infection in its earliest stage. One and a half to two times more women than men had later staged syphilis infections. A vast majority of the patients were African-American.

Health aspects, African Americans, Houston, Texas

---

The Epidemiology of Syphilis in the Waning Years of an Epidemic: Houston, Texas, 1991-1997

Article Abstract:

The development and progression of syphilis differs among ethnic groups. Researchers studied an epidemic of syphilis in Houston, TX, from 1991 to 1997, during which the rates of the disease fell 61%. The rate of early latent syphilis dropped 81% among black people, dropped 50% in whites, and 57% in Hispanics. Late latent syphilis rates did not change in black and white people, but grew in the Hispanic community.

Texas

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Cervical cancer screening in elderly women. Emergency medical care and the public purse
• Abstracts: Strategies for the prevention of low birth weight. Hyperemesis gravidarium: Epidemiologic findings from a large cohort
• Abstracts: Antinuclear antibody in pericardial fluid from a patient with primary cardiac lymphoma. Cyclosporine-associated hypertension
• Abstracts: Time-management study of trauma resuscitation. Undetected injuries: a preventable cause of increased morbidity and mortality
• Abstracts: Neonatal Haemophilus influenzae infections. Paediatric bone marrow transplantation using donors other than HLA genotypically identical siblings

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.