title: Biological false-positive syphilis test results for women infected with human immunodeficiency virus.
abstract: Regardless of the nontreponemal test used for the screening and diagnosis of syphilis, biological false-positive results (BFPs) are documented in 1%-2% of all cases. An association between BFPs and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in men has been suggested. We conducted a cohort study to determine whether a similar association between HIV seropositivity and BFPs exists for women. Among 156 HIV-seropositive women, 9 (5.8%) had a BFP for syphilis. Among 633 HIV-seronegative women, only 1 (0.2%) had a BFP. When the 25 HIV-seropositive patients and 55 HIV-seronegative patients with reactive rapid plasma reagin tests and microhemagglutination assays for antibodies to Treponema pallidum were excluded from the calculations, 6.9% and 0.2% of HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative women, respectively, had BFPs (P < .001; odds ratio, 39.45; 95% confidence interval, 6.4-879.0). An association was found between injection drug use and BFPs for the population of HIV-infected women but did not entirely account for the differences between this group and the HIV-seronegative group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn 11203.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Augenbraun
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: DeHovitz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Landesman
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Minkoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D013587:Syphilis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis