Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine

en Gonor‌rhea and syphilis co-infection and related risk factors in HIV patients from Shiraz, South of Iran Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases Short Communication Short Communication Background: Neisseria gonorrhea and Treponema pallidum as an obligate human pathogen are two common causes of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae and T. pallidum among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients in the southwest Iran. Methods: This retrospective study was performed from 2004 to 2013, on HIV patients who were tested for detection of gonorrhea and syphilis infection at Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center. ELISA technique was used for preliminary detection of HIV and confirmed by a Western Blotting test. Gonorrhea was routinely diagnosed using direct Gram-staining and culturing on selective agar. Syphilis was routinely diagnosed by RPR test. Results: Of the 806 HIV patients, 39 (2.6%) cases had co-infection with gonorrhea. Compared with mono-HIV infected patients, gonorrhea was significantly more likely among the males (69.4% vs. 92.3%, P=0.002). History of addiction and prison seems to be a significant risk factor for gonorrhea infection (P<0.05). Also, the mean of CD4+lymphocyte was higher among gonorrhea infected patients (368±238 vs. 415±328). Logistic regression analysis showed that sexual contact increased risk of gonococcal infection about 4 fold (OR: 4, CI: 1.7-9.39, P=0.001). None of the HIV patients had syphilis co-infection. Conclusions: As a preliminary survey, our findings provided unique information on the prevalence of gonorrhea and syphilis co-infections among HIV patients. Moreover, we introduced the main risk factors associated with gonorrhea co-infection in HIV patients in our region including gender, history of addiction and prison, CD4+lymphocyte count, and transmission routes for effective management of STDs.   Sexually transmitted disease (STD), Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Neisseria gonorrhea, Treponema pallidum 397 402 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-974-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Farzaneh Ghassabi farzanegh92@gmail.com 100319475328460014116 100319475328460014116 No Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Yalda Malekzadegan malekzadeganylda@gmail.com 100319475328460014117 100319475328460014117 No Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Hadi Sedigh Ebrahim-Saraie seddigh.hadi@gmail.com 100319475328460014118 100319475328460014118 No Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Hamid Heidari heidarii.hamid@gmail.com 100319475328460014119 100319475328460014119 No Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Mozhgan Sabet vahid.mi6@gmail.com 100319475328460014120 100319475328460014120 No Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Abdollatif Bagheri sedigh.h15@gmail.com 100319475328460014121 100319475328460014121 No Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Narges Bagheri vahid.s13@gmail.com 100319475328460014122 100319475328460014122 No Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Hadi Raeisi Shahraki biostat91@gmail.com 100319475328460014123 100319475328460014123 No Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of health, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran Alireza Hasanabadi kaveh.mohammad99@gmail.com 100319475328460014124 100319475328460014124 No Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Mohammad Motamedifar motamedm@yahoo.com 100319475328460014125 100319475328460014125 Yes Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran