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As Syphilis Cases Rise, So Do AIDS Fears |
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Yesterday, federal
health officials reported an increase in the number of Americans
infected with syphilis for the second year in a row, reversing a
decade-long decline in its incidence. Experts fear the rise in syphilis
portends an increase in HIV/AIDS cases, because syphilis is transmitted
in the same way, and the outbreak is primarily among gay and bisexual
men.
"We are extremely concerned about that
possibility," said Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri, deputy director of the
National Center for
HIV, STD and TB Prevention at CDC, which released
the new figures. "We're dealing with issues of prevention burnout and
skepticism." Syphilis-infected people are more susceptible to HIV, more
likely to develop AIDS, and more likely to spread HIV to others.
From 2001 to 2002,
the national syphilis rate increased from 2.2 cases per 100,000 people
to 2.4 per 100,000, a 9.1 percent rise. The total number of cases
increased from 6,103 to 6,862, a 12.4 percent jump. Cases among men
increased from 4,134 to 5,267, up 27.4 percent. Cases among women
declined by 19 percent.
Officials estimate that more than 40 percent of 2002
cases occurred among gay and bisexual men.
Syphilis
incidence increased even though
syphilis has been dropping among
African American men and women, a decrease attributed to intensive
public health campaigns. Increased syphilis rates have prompted a call
by the National Association of People with AIDS for more syphilis
testing.
"I hear far too often from folks living with
HIV or
AIDS that our doctors don't ask if we need
STD testing," said Eric Ciasullo of the association.
"Since it can be hard for some of us to ask for this essential health
care service, I think health care providers should ask us."
Washington Post (11.21.03)::Rob Stein |
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| We are providing the above information as a public
service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay
media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases
does not constitute endorsement. The above summaries were prepared
without conducting any additional research or investigation into the
facts and statements made in the articles being summarized, and
therefore readers are expressly cautioned against relying on the
validity or invalidity of any statements made in these summaries. This
CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News
Update also includes information from CDC and
other government agencies, such as background on MMWR articles, fact
sheets and announcements. |
| HIV1 - ELISA
Antibodies |
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Most people
infected with HIV carry the virus for years before manifesting AIDS.
During that period, infected people will have few, if any, symptoms yet
they can transmit the virus.
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The
percentage of women with AIDS has increased steadily, and the percentage
of people infected heterosexually has also increased, surpassing the percentage
infected through injecting drug use.
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During 2001, there were 35575 newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
now
that 40,000 new cases of HIV transmission occur every year.
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Of
the people infected with the virus of AIDS in the USA in the year 2001, 42%
were whites, 37% blacks, 20% Hispanics and <1% Asians and Pacific
Islanders and <1% American Indians and Alaska Natives.
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During the 1990s, the HIV epidemic shifted steadily toward a growing
proportion of AIDS cases in blacks and Hispanics and in women.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) is the cause of AIDS (Acquired
Immuno
Deficiency Syndrome).
The presence of HIV in the body can be detected in several ways. The
most common is the HIV-ELISA Antibodies test.
The
HIV-ELISA
looks for the body
response to the virus
manifested by the
presence in your blood of
Antibodies
to HIV proteins. Antibodies are special proteins that our Immune System
produce in response to the presence of HIV.
The test performed on your
sample actually consists
of two tests: a Screening test and a Confirmatory test. The
screening test procedure is called an
ELISA—Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay
or an EIA (Enzyme Immunosorbent Assay). The
confirmatory test is used in the event your HIV-ELISA is positive and/or
equivocal and is the procedure used is the Western
Blot Assay (WB)
The screening and
confirmatory tests are usually done using small samples of blood. If a
sample of blood tests positive repeatedly in the screening test, it will be
confirmed through the Western Blot test. People will be informed that they are infected
with HIV only after both the screening and confirmatory tests
have shown a positive (reactive) result.
Positive HIV antibody tests results
are over 99% accurate when confirmed. Negative HIV antibody tests are over
99% accurate if it has been at least six months after a contact with a
potentially HIV-infected partner. False negatives or false positives occur
rarely.
Antibodies to HIV can be
detected in the blood, in the urine or in the saliva. People produce
antibodies with different speeds and therefore the time interval between
infection and the development of antibodies to HIV can go from four weeks
to six months from the exposure date or SDC (
Suspected
Date
of
Contact).
The appearance of antibodies in a blood or urine sample of a person which
was known to be negative to HIV is called
Seroconversion.
The HIV Elisa results are usually available in one or two business days.
THE WINDOW PERIOD
The time period between a person’s
contact with the virus (infection) and when HIV antibodies become
detectable in blood or other fluids is called the "window period".
Most people will develop antibodies detectable within 4-6 weeks after infection with HIV. Some people may take
longer; but nearly all (99%) will have antibodies by 6 months following
infection. Therefore, the test may not be accurate if a person gets tested too soon after a potential exposure.
People waiting six months from the time of the exposure before testing
will have a 99% accurate test result. Until now there have been no
studies showing antibodies present in people with longer than six
months exposure to HIV.
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