title: The etiology of infectious proctitis in men who have sex with men differs according to HIV status.
abstract: We compared the spectrum of pathogens responsible for infectious proctitis between HIV-positive and HIV-negative men who have sex with men. Only 32% of men with herpes simplex virus (HSV)-associated proctitis had visible external anal ulceration.The etiology of infectious proctitis among HIV-positive and HIV-negative men is as follows: chlamydia (23.4% vs. 21.7%, P = 0.7), gonorrhea (13.4% vs. 10.8%, P = 0.5), HSV-1 (14.2% vs. 6.5%, P = 0.04), HSV-2 (22% vs. 12.3%, P = 0.03), lymphogranuloma venereum (7.8% vs. 0.7%, P = 0.004), and multiple infections (17.7% vs. 8.6%, P = 0.017). Thirty-two percent with HSV proctitis had external anal ulceration.
authors.affiliation: From the *Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia; †Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; and ‡Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bissessor
authors.forename: Christopher K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Fairley
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Denham
authors.forename: Catriona
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D005401:Fissure in Ano / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008219:Lymphogranuloma Venereum / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D011349:Proctitis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D019562:Viral Load