Anal and oral detection of Treponema pallidum in men who have sex with men with early syphilis infection

Abstract

Objectives We aimed to characterise patterns of anal and oral detection of Treponema pallidum among men who have sex with men (MSM) with early syphilis. Methods 200 MSM with serologically confirmed primary, secondary and early latent syphilis were tested with T. pallidum polA PCR using an anal canal swab, oral rinse, plus swabs from any anal and oral lesions in a prospective, cross-sectional study. Anal and oral T. pallidum cycle threshold values were compared between subsets of men and according to rapid plasma reagin (RPR) titre. Results Of 200 men with early syphilis, 45 and 48 had anal and oral T. pallidum detected, respectively. Cycle threshold values were lower with anal compared with ..