Rectal lymphogranuloma venereum, France.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Elisabeth Couturier.
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The epidemiologic survey by the InVS from data from voluntary sites shows an increase of the cases of syphilis from 2000 to 2002 in France. Most of patients with early syphilis are men having sex with men and more than half of cases is HIV infected patients. Resurgence of syphilis reflects the relapse of high-risk sexual practices and the most sexual practice evocated is unprotected oral sex. The same situation has been reported in countries from the west of Europe. In east of Europe, the epidemiology is a little bit different with an increase of cases since the early 90's mostly in sex workers and in relation to the rapid increase in the number of injecting drug users. In United States, although increases in syphilis rates among men who have sex with men have been documented since 1997, the majority of cases have been reported in the South affecting disproportionately blacks, reflecting low access to medical care but also racial segregation in sexual activity. The resurgence of syphilis while it is limited highlights the need for more health promotion initiatives especially in the most affected population.
Non-B HIV-1 samples collected in France between 1999 and 2001 were sequenced in the env, reverse transcriptase (RT), and protease genes (1) to characterize further the non-B strains circulating in the country, (2) to assess the importance of recombination, and (3) to describe the polymorphism of RT and protease genes and appreciate a possible impact on susceptibility to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. The results show that, within a background of CRF02_AG predominance, there is a high genetic diversity of non-B isolates, including intersubtype recombinants. There is an extensive polymorphism of protease and RT genes compared with B consensus sequences; we have so far no data indicating that these non-B isolates may have reduced sensitivity to ARV drugs.