A systematic review of the population prevalence of HIV and STD co-infection

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) remain a public health concern in worldwide. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), one of the STDs, is associated with the increase risk of other STD infections. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals who are infected with STDs are more likely to be infected with HIV than uninfected individuals. As HIV and other STDs share the same transmission route, the co-infection may be observed more frequently in the population. To control the number of co-infection, screening programs are essential in all areas. While screening for individual infections are necessary, the prevalence of co-infection should also be evaluated for surveillance programs. The prevalence of individual STDs have been studied in various reviews, but the population prevalence of the co-infection was not widely studied. Therefore, a systematic review is conducted to provide a summary of the prevalence of HIV with syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea and herpes simplex virus (HSV-2) and co-infection in various populations. Methods: PubMed database is chosen for selection of potential publications in this systematic review. Various keywords are used for the search and and only English publications are selected for review. Studies with statistical data on individual infection but not the co-infection were excluded. Results: Ten studies from various populations are selected for this review. Nine studies were conducted in healthcare facilities and one was conducted in a working site. The number of study participants ranged from 336 to 1661 with a mean age of 32 years old. The average of prevalence of HIV and the chosen STDs was around 20%—highest prevalence is observed in HSV-2 with HIV co-infection. Conclusion: The prevalence of co-infection is low but it cannot be neglected. Simultaneous screening for HIV and other STDs is not necessary in all areas, but it will be very useful in certain facilities where high-risk populations, for example sex workers, MSM etc are served. Such low prevalence of STD co-infection should be maintained and it is the responsibility of both the individuals and the society.