Trends of HIV/Syphilis/HSV-2 seropositive rate and factors associated with HSV-2 infection in men who have sex with men in Shenzhen, China: A retrospective study

Evaluating the effect of the plan of national syphilis control in controlling the syphilis epidemic in Jiangsu, China 2010-2020

Background

Starting in 2010, the Chinese government initiated a 10-year syphilis control plan, called the national syphilis control plan (NSCP), to address the emerging threat of syphilis. We aimed to evaluate the effect of the NSCP plan on syphilis control in Jiangsu, China.

Methods

The temporal trends of syphilis incidence, prevalence and rate of condom use were estimated by Joinpoint regression with average annual percent change (APC) and average annual percentage (APPC). A Chi-square test was conducted to analyze the outcomes in different subgroups. ArcGIS was used to analyze the spatiotemporal distribution of syphilis incidence.

Results

Geographically, early and congenital syphilis incidence decreased significantly in all areas of the province during the period of NSCP. Early syphilis incidence decreased from 21.1 to 8.8 (APC: -7.5, 95%CI: -8.6, -6.5, p < 0.001) per 100,000 people, and congenital syphilis decreased from 63.6 to 4.1 (APC: -14.8, 95%CI: -20.8, -8.4, p < 0.01) per 100,000 newborns from 2010 to 2020. Also, syphilis prevalence reduced from 13.4 to 3.8% (APC: -8.7, 95%CI: -12.1, -5.0, p = 0.001) among men who have sex with men, from 5.3 to 1.7% (APC: -7.9, 95%CI: -11.7, -3.8, p = 0.002) among female sex workers and remained under 1.0% with slight variations among pregnant women (APC: 0.3, 95%CI: -4.3, 5.1, p = 0.877) from 2010 to 2020. 0.2% (2,436) of pregnant women who received free syphilis testing during pregnancy were diagnosed with current syphilis infection, and 97.0% (2,555) of newborns in the province were delivered to women diagnosed with syphilis. 91.8% (2,346) of live babies and about 90% of diagnosed patients received complete standard syphilis diagnosis and treatment services.

Conclusion

Trends of early syphilis incidence and syphilis prevalence show a considerable decreasing trend among almost all the key populations after implementing NSCP. Congenital syphilis has significantly decreased as well and hence, the NSCP program should be sustained and strengthened to control the syphilis epidemic in China further.

Advances and challenges in sexually transmitted infections prevention among men who have sex with men in Asia

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review summarizes recently published research on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Asia, covering four main areas: prevalence and consequences of STIs/STDs, factors associated with STI risk, strategies and measures of STI prevention, challenges in the prevention of SITs.

RECENT FINDINGS

Studies show that STIs among Asian MSM are still prevalent, with the prevalence of STIs varying slightly from country to country. In addition to the number of sexual partners, frequency of condom use, high-risk sexual behaviors, the influence of Confucianism, law, and COVID-19 are also related to STI risk. Social stigma, weak health systems, lack of funding and policy support are the current challenges for STIs prevention.

SUMMARY

In the future, new media technologies are encouraged to be used to enhance education and reduce stigma and discrimination against MSM and STIs. Expanding STI screening, strengthening STI knowledge propaganda and education among MSM population, and providing necessary counseling and medical services are main strategies in STI prevention. It is also important to strengthen STI awareness and policy support at the national level.

Prevalence of herpes simplex virus 2 among MSM in Mainland China: a systematic review and meta-synthesis

BACKGROUND

As one of the most prolific sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the world, Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) is one of the primary causes of genital ulcers. In addition, HSV-2 infection multiplies the risk of acquiring HIV. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at particularly high risk of contracting both diseases. Unfortunately, little information is available with regarding to the comprehensive prevalence of HSV-2 among MSM in mainland China. The objective of this manuscript was to determine the composite prevalence of HSV-2 among MSM in mainland China via systematic review and meta-synthesis.

METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Database for Chinese Periodicals, and the VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals for relevant articles published from the database's inception to 28 April 2022 that reported data on the prevalence of HSV-2 within the MSM population in mainland China. We considered publications to be eligible for inclusion if they satisfied these conditions: (1) publication participants were MSM in China mainland. Studies were excluded if participants were exclusively all HIV-positive MSM, all HIV-negative MSM, injection-drug users, or MSM sex workers. These studies would have introduced selection bias and skewed pooled prevalence estimates higher or lower; (2) proportion of HSV-2 virus among MSM in China mainland were reported; (3) HSV-2 diagnosis was conducted in a laboratory based on a strict type-specific glycoprotein-G based assays diagnostic method or PCR method; and (4) had a sample size over 20. Exclusion criteria included: (1) not being an original manuscript, such as a review article; (2) being a guideline, correspondence, and/or conference abstract; (3) the publication population did not reside in China mainland when the study was carried out; and (4) if the same epidemiological data were printed in both English and Chinese journals, English articles were preferred. We assessed the risk of bias in each individual publication using the modified quality assessment tool for systematic reviews of observational publications (QATSO). This meta-analysis was conducted by using R software. Due to extensive heterogeneity between various publications, we employed a random effect model to calculate the composite prevalence and corresponding 95% confidence intervals. We then conducted meta-regression to investigate the potential causes of observed heterogeneity. Lastly, we employed subgroup analysis based on characteristics of studies to compare the prevalence estimates across the groups. Publication bias was evaluated by funnel plot, Begg's test and Egger's test. Sensitivity analysis was also performed by removing each single study separately.

RESULTS

This study included 31 articles (9 published in English and 22 in Chinese) in our meta-synthesis. The pooled prevalence of HSV-2 among MSM in China mainland was 0.094 (95%CI:0.074 to 0.116). Prevalence of HSV-2 among MSM in Southwest China was higher than other regions, prevalence of HSV-2 among MSM that recruited from VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) was lower than other ways, respectively. Compared to 2000-2010, the prevalence of HSV-2 among MSM in mainland China showed a downward trend during 2011-2020, however, the difference was not statistically significant .

CONCLUSION

Prevalence of HSV-2 among MSM in China mainland is high, around 0.094. It indicated HSV-2 needed to be screening for MSM population among China mainland and proper actions should be taken to curve the trend of HSV-2 among MSM in China. Trial registration CRD42020180361.