STDs: Making the Connection
The interconnectedness of HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis (TB) grows increasingly apparent as biomedical and behavioral scientists learn more about people's susceptibility and risks. CDC is applying new research to the elimination of TB and the prevention of viral hepatitis and all major STDs, including HIV infection.
STDs and HIV/AIDS
STDs and TB
STDs and HIV/AIDS
Having an STD does not necessarily mean that the infected person also has HIV infection. However, continuing the risky behavior that led to STD infection may increase the likelihood of eventually becoming infected with HIV.
HIV infection and other STDs are linked not only by common behaviors, but also by biological mechanisms. Other STDs increase both HIV infectiousness and susceptibility. Individuals who are infected with STDs are more likely than uninfected individuals to acquire HIV if they are exposed to the virus through sexual contact. And, if an HIV-infected individual is also infected with another STD, that person is more likely to transmit HIV through sexual contact than other HIV-infected persons.1
- Syphilis, genital herpes type 2, chancroid, and other infections that cause genital or rectal ulcers may increase the risk of HIV transmission per sexual exposure 10 to 50 times for male-to-female transmission and 50 to 300 times for female-to-male exposure.2
- Nonulcerative STDs (e.g., chlamydia and gonorrhea) have been shown to increase the risk of HIV transmission by two-fold to five-fold.3
- Treatment of gonorrhea in HIV-infected men reduces the prevalence of HIV shedding in urethral secretions by approximately 50%.4
These relationships between HIV/AIDS and STDs illustrate why STD prevention is a key HIV prevention strategy. Integrating HIV and STD prevention efforts is vital to the success of both endeavors.
Learn more about the role of STD prevention and treatment in HIV prevention:
STDs and TB
HIV weakens the immune system; TB thrives in a weakened immune system. Thus, each disease speeds the other's progress:
- Someone who is HIV-positive and infected with TB is many times more likely to become sick with TB than someone who is HIV-negative and infected with TB. 5
- HIV is the most powerful known risk factor for reactivation of latent TB infection to active disease. 6
- TB is a leading cause of death among people who are HIV-positive.7
- A person who has both HIV and active TB disease has an AIDS-defining condition.8
About one-third of the 33.2 million HIV-positive people worldwide are co-infected with TB.9 Worldwide TB is responsible for the deaths of at least one in three people living with HIV/AIDS.10 In Africa, HIV is the single most important factor determining the increased incidence of TB in the past 10 years.11
Learn more about the role of HIV prevention and treatment in TB elimination:
1The Role of STD Detection and Treatment in HIV Prevention, CDC
2 HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005, CDC
3 HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005, CDC
4 HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005, CDC
5 World Health Organization (WHO) Tuberculosis Fact Sheet
6 Stop TB Communique, August 2001
7 World Health Organization (WHO) Tuberculosis Fact Sheet
8 TB and HIV Coinfection 2005
9 TB/HIV Facts 2009, World Health Organization
10 TB and HIV Coinfection 2005
11 World Health Organization (WHO) Tuberculosis Fact Sheet
