Loading...
A link between syphilis and HIV infection has been noted since the early days of the HIV pandemic, with consistently higher HIV rates among patients with syphilis in retrospective cohort studies. The Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Initiative (iPrEx) trial offered an opportunity to prospectively assess the relation between prevalent and incident syphilis and acquisition of HIV infection in a closed cohort of HIV-seronegative men who have sex with men (MSM).
At the time of screening, 333 of 2499 participants (13.3%) were found to have prevalent syphilis based on reactive syphilis serology (rapid plasma reagin or Venereal Disease Research Laboratory positivity, plus fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption confirmation). The rate of incident syphil…