Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0277787 (stigma)
 13,352 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

While the incidence of general paralysis of the insane (GPI) has declined, AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) has emerged as a new illness. Today, in England and Wales, as many elderly people die from AIDS as from neurosyphilis, although both diagnoses are rare in this age group. Both are serious medical conditions with psychiatric manifestations. For both, serological tests may identify the disease, and treatment may be of benefit, but there is considerable social stigma attached to the diagnoses. Ethical guidelines for serological testing for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) have been available for over a decade. In view of the similarities between the diseases, it may be unethical to test patients for syphilis routinely. Epidemiology, risk factors, neurological and neuropsychiatric features and ethics must be considered before testing for both syphilis and HIV.
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PMID:General paralysis of the insane and AIDS in old age psychiatry: epidemiology, clinical diagnosis, serology and ethics--the way forward. 988 13

Syphilis and HIV infection are two STI diseases that have bidirectional influence on the clinical course of each other. There is a high risk of neurological extension if syphilis is not diagnosed early or if the patient has a co-infection with HIV. Both diseases have stigma associated with them and could affect the compliance to treatment, as was the case with this young employee of the medical department of a Nigerian tertiary hospital. He was diagnosed with HIV/ neurosyphilis co-infection and responded to penicillin therapy, but the fear of stigma at his workplace has made him to abandon hospital treatment for unorthodox therapy, which unfortunately cost him his life.
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PMID:HIV-associated neurosyphilis: report of a fatal case due to fear of work-place stigma. 1988 99