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Published on: September 26, 2011
The association of false-positive rapid plasma reagin results and HIV infection
P Joyanes1, M V Borobio, J M Arquez
1Department of Microbiology, University Hospital V. Macarena, Seville, Spain.
Background And Objectives:
To study the relationship between a false positive rapid plasma reagin (RPR) result (FP), syphilis, and HIV infection in our patients.
Methods:
A prospective study of the incidence of FP tests and syphilis in the general population and its relationship to HIV infection over a period of 6 months.
Results:
8.76% of the population were HIV positive. False positives were found in 15% and 1.2% of the HIV infected and noninfected patients, respectively; the attributable risk for HIV was 14.97. Syphilis was found in 5% and 0.9% of the positive and negative HIV patients, respectively; the attributable risk for HIV was 5.4.
Conclusions:
The incidence of false positive RPR results in the HIV-infected population is significantly higher than that of the non-HIV-infected patients.
