Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jul 22;11(7):e0159309.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159309. eCollection 2016.

Syphilis Trends among Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States and Western Europe: A Systematic Review of Trend Studies Published between 2004 and 2015

Winston E Abara  1 , Kristen L Hess  1 , Robyn Neblett Fanfair  2 , Kyle T Bernstein  2 , Gabriela Paz-Bailey  1
Affiliations

Syphilis Trends among Men Who Have Sex with Men in the United States and Western Europe: A Systematic Review of Trend Studies Published between 2004 and 2015

Winston E Abara et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Globally, men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately burdened with syphilis. This review describes the published literature on trends in syphilis infections among MSM in the US and Western Europe from 1998, the period with the fewest syphilis infections in both geographical areas, onwards. We also describe disparities in syphilis trends among various sub-populations of MSM. We searched electronic databases (Medline, Embase, Global Health, PsychInfo, CAB Abstracts, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and LILACS) for peer-reviewed journal articles that were published between January 2004 and June 2015 and reported on syphilis cases among MSM at multiple time points from 1998 onwards. Ten articles (12 syphilis trend studies/reports) from the US and eight articles (12 syphilis trend studies/reports) from Western Europe were identified and included in this review. Taken together, our findings indicate an increase in the numbers and rates (per 100,000) of syphilis infections among MSM in the US and Western Europe since 1998. Disparities in the syphilis trends among MSM were also noted, with greater increases observed among HIV-positive MSM than HIV-negative MSM in both the US and Western Europe. In the US, racial minority MSM and MSM between 20 and 29 years accounted for the greatest increases in syphilis infections over time whereas White MSM accounted for most syphilis infections over time in Western Europe. Multiple strategies, including strengthening and targeting current syphilis screening and testing programs, and the prompt treatment of syphilis cases are warranted to address the increase in syphilis infections among all MSM in the US and Western Europe, but particularly among HIV-infected MSM, racial minority MSM, and young MSM in the US.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flow diagram showing the article screening process.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Syphilis trend studies in the United States: annual number of syphilis cases among MSM, 2004–2011.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Syphilis trend studies in Western Europe: annual number of syphilis cases among MSM, 2004–2015.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Peterman TA, Heffelfinger JD, Swint EB, Groseclose SL. The changing epidemiology of syphilis. Sex Transm Dis. 2005;32:S4–S10. - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Patton ME SJ, Nelson R, Weinstock H. Primary and secondary syphilis—United States, 2005–2013. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2014;63:402–406. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fenton KA, Breban R, Vardavas R, Okano JT, Martin T, Aral S, et al. Infectious syphilis in high-income settings in the 21st century. Lancet Infect Dis. 2008;8(4):244–253. 10.1016/S1473-3099(08)70065-3 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Garnett GP, Aral SO, Hoyle DV, Cates W Jr, Anderson RM. The natural history of syphilis: implications for the transmission dynamics and control of infection. Sex Transm Dis. 1997;24:185–200. - PubMed
    1. Buchacz K, Patel P, Taylor M, Kerndt PR, Byers RH, Holmberg SD, et al. Syphilis increases HIV viral load and decreases CD4 cell counts in HIV-infected patients with new syphilis infections. AIDS. 2004;18:2075–2079. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types