Kirsten Salado-Rasmussen, Steen Hoffmann, Susan Cowan, Jørgen Skov Jensen, Thomas Benfield, Jan Gerstoft, Terese Lea Katzenstein
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-2289

Serological response to treatment of syphilis with orally administered doxycycline or intramuscularly administered penicillin was assessed in patients with concurrent HIV. All HIV-infected individuals diagnosed with syphilis attending 3 hospitals in Copenhagen, Denmark were included. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) associated with serological outcome were modelled using propensity-score-adjusted logistic regression analysis. In total, 202 cases were treated with doxycycline or intramuscular penicillin. At 12 months, serological failure was observed in 12 cases (15%) treated with doxycycline and in 8 cases (17%) treated with penicillin (OR 0.78 (95% CI 0.16–3.88), p=0.76). The serological cure rate at 12 months was highest in patients with primary syphilis (100%), followed by patients with secondary (89%), early latent (71%) and late latent (67%) syphilis (p=0.006). In conclusion, this study provides evidence for the use of doxycycline as a treatment option when treating a HIV-infected population for syphilis.

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