Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Regional assessment of STD trends in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Int Conf AIDS. 1993 Jun 6-11;9(1):103 (abstract no. WS-C22-5). Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/93333241 Betts C; Zacarias F; STD/HIV Control Program, PAHO/WHO, Washington, D.C.
Abstract:
Given the synergism between HIV and other STDs, surveillance of STDs must provide program and policy decision makers with needed information for developing effective STD/HIV prevention strategies. After a report published in 1981, little information on STDs, other than HIV/AIDS, has been analyzed on a regional basis in Latin America and the Caribbean. During 1992, PAHO conducted a survey, requesting countries to report data on selected STDs between 1987 and 1991. Data collected represents official numbers of reported cases by Ministries of Health. The survey covered diseases such as syphilis (all forms, primary and secondary, and congenital), prevalence of serological tests for syphilis in pregnant women, gonorrhea, non-gonococcal urethritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, chancroid, cervical cancer and others. Data was obtained from 95% (20/21) of the Latin American countries and 76% (16/21) of the Caribbean countries. Data covering at least 4 years of the 1987-1991 period, was obtained from 64% (27/42) of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Comparisons were made between reported syphilis cases and prevalence of serological tests for syphilis. With few exceptions, trends of reported cases and trends of syphilis serology prevalence in pregnant women were consistent. Based on data obtained from serological tests in pregnant women, estimates of actual syphilis cases were made and under-reporting rates were estimated for these countries. Completeness of reporting varied from a low of 3% to a high of 63%. Trends were found to be decreasing for most STDs in most countries. However, increasing trends of cervical cancer were observed in 71% (10/14) of the countries reporting data on this condition. Likewise syphilis, either all forms, primary and secondary or congenital syphilis, had increasing trends in 67% (18/27) of the countries that reported data on these related conditions. Chancroid showed increasing trends in 42% (8/19) of the countries with available data. Rates of reported cases ranged from a low of 0.1 per 100,000 in Cuba to a high of 1,228.9 x 100,000 in the Bahamas. Available data strongly suggest that these two countries of the Americas are among those with lowest and highest HIV infection rates, respectively. While the majority of countries have decreasing rates of gonorrhoea, non-gonococcal urethritis and other acute STDs, an opposite trend seems to be emerging for conditions such as syphilis, chancroid and cervical cancer, in which synergism between HIV and other STDs may be enhancing the transmission of HIV as well as other STDs of public health importance.
Keywords: *HIV Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY *Sexually Transmitted Diseases/EPIDEMIOLOGY 931130
M93B5808
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
