Increased routine screening for syphilis and falling syphilis incidence in HIV positive and HIV negative men who have sex with men: implications for syphilis and HIV prevention Mark Stoové 1, Carol El-Hayek 1, Christopher Fairley, Jane Goller 1, David Leslie, Norm Roth, BK Tee, Ian Denham, Marcus Chen and Margaret Hellard 1 1 Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia 2 Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 3 Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Melbourne, Australia 4 Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, Australia 5 Prahran Market Clinic, Melbourne, Australia 6 The Centre Clinic, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 7 The Nossal Institute for Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Background HIV & syphilis epidemiology in Australia Highly concentrated among men who have sex with men (MSM) Syphilis –Further concentrated among HIV+ MSM –High rates of re-infection

Victoria Population ~5.5 million (Melbourne ~4.1 million) 2 nd highest number of HIV & syphilis notifications in Australia Re-emergence of syphilis –0.2/100,000 in 2000 –5.1/100,000 in 2007 Victorian infectious syphilis notifications in MSM, Department of Health, Victoria Background

Risk factors for MSM –Unprotected anal and oral sex –High number of partners and partner exchange No change in sexual risk behaviour observed in response to social marketing campaigns Public health concern –Association with HIV infection –National HIV epidemic modelling suggests syphilis as a key factor in increasing HIV notifications among MSM in Victoria Background

Test & Treat for syphilis? –Mathematical modelling Background Increase testing in: 1.High risk HIV- MSM 2.All HIV+ MSM reduce syphilis prevalence; period of infectiousness reduce syphilis transmission

Clinical response –Alerts for GPs –Outreach testing –Contact tracing –Counselling Recent decline in infectious syphilis Victorian notifications of STIs in MSM, Department of Health, Victoria Background

Links laboratory test results with behavioural & demographic information captured at clinics –Syphilis network; 3 high MSM-caseload clinics –High coverage >50% of all Victorian HIV notifications >50% of all Victorian syphilis notification Uses viral load test data to assign HIV status Monitors testing patterns, diagnosis rates & calculates incidence Methods Sentinel Surveillance for STIs & BBVs

At one clinic: –an electronic alert reminds clinicians to test MSM reporting any unprotected sex or 10+ partners in the past 12 months –alerts syphilis serology as part of routine tests requested when seeing HIV positive patients At the others, standard practice to: –Include syphilis serology with any other serology or STI screen for all HIV- MSM –Include syphilis serology with all viral load tests for HIV+ MSM Methods Clinical Practice

All MSM tested for syphilis b/w 1 Jan 2007 and 31 Dec 2010 Syphilis test records excluded where: –HIV status could not be established (n=396); or –Specimen collection was <90 days after a new infectious syphilis diagnosis to account for tests conducted to monitor Rx response Classified a new infectious syphilis diagnosis when: –Negative syphilis serology at last test; or –Among those previously infected, a ≥4-fold rise in RPR titre from the last titre Incidence calculated per 100 PY using Anderson & Gill method for multiple failure-times data with ordered events IRR and Poisson regression to test significance of trends Methods Data Analysis

24,142 syphilis tests among 17,440 HIV negative MSM – , testing increased by an average of 12% per year (95% CI: 11%, 13%) 16,806 syphilis tests among 6,441 HIV positive MSM – , testing increased by an average of 7% per year (95% CI: 6%, 8%) Results - Testing

Results - Incidence among HIV negative MSM –syphilis incidence declined an average of 29% per year (95% CI: 17%, 40%) among HIV positive MSM –syphilis incidence declined an average of 23% per year (95% CI: 14%, 31%)

Results – Incidence in High Risk MSM HIV negative MSM with >10 partners in past 6 months –syphilis incidence declined an average of 33% per year (95% CI: 12%, 50%) HIV negative MSM reporting inconsistent condom use –syphilis incidence declined an average of 40% per year (95% CI: 24%, 53%)

Recent declines in syphilis notifications among MSM while other bacterial STIs continue to rise Sustained increased syphilis testing at high MSM- caseload clinics Significant declining trends in syphilis incidence; even greater in HIV- MSM reporting high risk practises Multiple data sources suggest sexual risk practices have not changed markedly in this group Summary

Findings support recommendations that syphilis can be controlled among MSM by sustaining high frequency testing Continued testing and treatment, reduces period of infectiousness and lower prevalence in MSM Important implications for HIV control among MSM Further analysis using mathematical modelling of testing scenarios and their impact on syphilis and HIV epidemiology Discussion

Acknowledgements Co-authors Collaborators Department of Health, Victoria Melbourne Sexual Health Centre Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory Burnet Institute Phuong Nguyen Damien McCarthy Department of Health, Victoria Ellen Donnan, Nasra Higgins Victorian Primary Care Network for Sentinel Surveillance BBV/STIs Participating clinics and laboratories