Syphilis and HIV – The Intersection of Two Epidemics

HIV Tegan Parry

Having Syphilis with HIV Can Increase the Viral Load in the Body

Viral load is the amount of HIV viral particles per millimeter of blood in the body. The measurement of one’s viral load is sed to check the progression of HIV and how effective the antiretroviral therapy is.

Having syphilis can cause an increase in the viral load. The viral load in the blood can also increase the risk of HIV transmission.

A study of comparison was done on individuals that have a coinfection of syphilis and HIV and those that were only HIV-positive. After six months, researchers discovered that:

There was an increase in viral load among people that had a coinfection and were receiving the antiretroviral drug.
There was a 23.7% increase in viral load in people that have a coinfection and a 16.6% increase in those that were only HIV-positive
There was a drop in CD4 count in people with coinfection, but it returned to normal after syphilis treatment.

Tegan Parry August 9, 2022

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