Sexually Transmitted Infections In Community Research Articles

Pattern of sexually transmitted infections in a tertiary care hospital: A five-year retrospective study

Introduction: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have a profound impact on sexual and reproductive health worldwide and especially in a developing country like Nepal. However, adequate studies are lacking in our context with regards to the pattern analysis of the STIs in community and in the tertiary care hospitals. The aim of this study is to understand the prevalence and pattern of different STIs in Nepal.
 Methods: This is a retrospective observational study in which the record of all patients who attended the STD OPD of NAMS, Bir Hospital from 2071 to 2075 B.S. (April 2014 – March 2019) have been analyzed.
 Results: Among the 2658 patients who visited the STD OPD, majority (27.5%) had been diagnosed with syphilis. The second commonest diagnosis was condyloma acuminata accounting for 22.6 % of cases. Urethral discharge syndrome and vaginal discharge syndrome comprised of 20.1% and 17% respectively. Genital herpes constituted 6% of cases whereas genital molluscum contagiosum comprised of 3.4% of cases. Genital ulcer diseases accounted for 2.1% of total cases.
 Conclusions: There was a high magnitude of STIs found in this study, among which syphilis constituted the major burden. The results of this study also urge further awareness programs regarding the clinical features and importance of early treatment of STIs.

Over-screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea among urban women age ≥25 years

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) in older women who are at increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) based on community STI prevalence. Additionally, we explored the associations between STI risk factors and CT/NG to determine the percentage of women who were over-screened. We conducted a retrospective chart review of women ≥25 years old who were either tested or screened for CT/NG during a gynecology visit at an urban teaching institution. Pregnancy and HIV infection were exclusion criteria. Descriptive statistics, univariate analyses, and logistic regression were performed. Of 658 eligible women, the median age of those positive for CT/NG was 30 years (range, 26-41 years). Chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalence was 1.7% (11/658 women) and 0.3% (2/658 women), respectively. All positive results were captured by testing women of any age who reported symptoms or an STI exposure and by screening women who were ≤40 years old. After adjustment of data for age, we found that symptomatic women were 3 times more likely to test positive for CT/NG (adjusted odds ratio, 3.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-10.3) and that STI-exposed women were 10 times more likely to test positive for CT/NG (adjusted odds ratio, 10; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-52.5). In asymptomatic non-STI-exposed women, nonmonogamous relationship (P = 1.0), abnormal examination results (P = 1.0), and previous STI (P = .35) were not associated with CT/NG. Over-screening occurred in 21% of women (141/658), all of whom were menopausal, had a hysterectomy, or were >40 years old. CT/NG prevalence among older women was low, even in a community of high STI prevalence. More than 20% of women could have avoided CT/NG evaluation without impacting the detection of positive results in our clinic cohort. Over-screening occurred among asymptomatic, non-STI-exposed women who were menopausal, had a hysterectomy, and were >40 years old.

P22 A user centred approach to the design of p-of-care and self-test mobile phone diagnostics for sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

BackgroundEffective Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) control is being challenged by inadequate access to prompt diagnosis and treatment for patients and relatively poor community STI surveillance. This work forms part of...