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Carla Merritt, MPH and Kathryn E Macomber, MPH. Bureau of Epidemiology, Michigan Department of Community Health, Oakland County Health Department, 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Pontiac, MI 48341, 248-858-0732, merrittc@michigan.gov
In recent years, there has been a nation-wide increase in syphilis cases associated with men who have sex with men (many of whom also have HIV). In 2000, the Michigan Department of Community Health sought to determine the levels of syphilis and HIV co-morbidity in the City of Detroit. Syphilis cases reported in the Detroit Health Department jurisdiction from 1997-2003 were matched to the statewide HIV/AIDS Reporting System. The percent of syphilis cases co-infected with HIV each year ranged from 2.8% to 4.9% but has not increased significantly over time. This is vastly different from some cities reporting HIV and syphilis co-morbidity levels over 50%. Although the majority of co-morbid cases in Detroit are MSM (65%), this represents a small percentage of total syphilis morbidity and has not increased with time. As only 12% of interviewed male syphilis cases are MSM, the high percentage of MSM co-morbid cases are representative of the HIV rather than the syphilis risk distribution in Detroit. This confirms the fact that syphilis transmission in Detroit is largely heterosexual and differs from transmission in many other metropolitan cities. Despite low levels of co-morbidity, education and outreach was conducted, targeted to this high-risk behavior group, in an effort to prevent the spread of not only HIV but also syphilis.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: STD Prevention, HIV Risk Behavior
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.