HIV infection in male patients attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic

Abstract

Three hundred and fifty-two heterosexual males, attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic at Siriraj Hospital from December 1989 to February 1991 were studied for the prevalence of HIV infection. Of these, 334 men reported prostitutes as the main source of their sexually transmitted disease. No one had received blood transfusion in the last 5 years, and there was no history of intravenous drug use, homosexuality or bisexuality. HIV antibody was found in the sera of 24 men (6.8%). HIV seropositivity was associated with serologic makers of syphilis (P < 0.05) but was not associated with present genital ulcers on physical examination or other STDs. These data indicate the high rate of female prostitutes to male transmission of HIV infection in the presence of sexually transmitted disease and confirms the relationship between syphilis and HIV infection. HIV/AIDS educational programmes and campaigns to promote condom use among prostitutes and clients are an urgent need in Thailand.

PIP: The study subjects were recruited among heterosexual men attending the male sexually transmitted disease (STDs) clinic operated by the Dermatology Unit, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. The subjects had no history of intravenous drug use, homosexuality, or bisexuality, had not received blood transfusion in the preceding 5 years, and claimed that they had contracted the disease from prostitutes. Between December 1989 and February 1991, 352 men enrolled in the study who had a median age of 28 years (range 15-63 years). The participants completed a questionnaire about occupation and clinical symptoms of STDs. Sera were assayed for VDRL and TPHA. HIV antibody screening was performed by gel particle agglutination or ELISA technique, and the specimens were confirmed as positive by HIV antibody Immunoblot technique. Of the 328 HIV seronegative men, 44% had nonspecific urethritis, 13.3% had gonorrhea, 13.1% had genital ulcers (including syphilis and chancroid), and 7.6% had syphilis (including positive VDRL or TPHA 1:160). 334 of 352 men (94.9%) reported prostitutes as the source of their STDs. HIV antibody was detected in 19 (5.4%) of 352 men. Only 100 of the 333 men whose first HIV antibody was negative returned to the clinic for a second HIV antibody test within 12 weeks, and HIV antibody was detected in 5 (5.0%) of these 100 men. Thus, the HIV antibody was found in a total of 24 (6.8%) of 352 men. This rate was 15 times the rate found in blood samples from healthy donors at Siriraj Hospital during the period between 1989 and 1990. The HIV seropositivity was significantly associated with syphilis (including positive VDRL or TPHA 1:160), but was not associated with genital ulcers (including syphilitic ulcer and chancroid). None of the 24 seropositive men had clinical evidence of AIDS-related complex or full-blown AIDS. The lack of association between HIV seropositivity and genital ulcer remains to be further investigated.