The Management of Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

Abstract

Patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in developing countries are often untreated for long periods of time or receive ineffective treatment, producing complications that can lead to infertility, blindness, and even death. In addition, there is growing research evidence that people with bacterial or viral STDs are more likely to acquire--and perhaps transmit--the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). STD control programs in developing countries must be reorganized to include: 1) good management of patients with STDs and their contacts, 2) case finding for syphilis in the antenatal population, 3) screenings and case findings for gonorrhea in high-risk groups, and 4) systematic prophylaxis for ophthalmia neonatorum in newborns. Since diagnosis before treatment is problematic in rural areas, the World Health Organization recommends simple treatment protocols based on the most common STD symptoms--urethral discharge; gynecological complaints such as vaginal discharge, low abdominal pain, or dysuria; genital ulceration; and inguinal bubo, a swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin. Other components of this approach include standardized treatment, contact tracing and treatment, health education targeted at high-risk groups, follow-up and case referral where necessary, and the collection of simple statistics on treatment efficacy and STD epidemiology. The incidence of STDs in developing countries is steadily increasing as a result of urbanization, increased numbers of young people, and delayed age at marriage. However, this situation can be combatted through application of treatment protocols, technological advances, improvements in the health care delivery system, and awareness on the part of policy makers of the seriousness of the STD problem.