Community based study on prevalence of sexually transmitted dieases infections in rural North India.
Int Conf AIDS 2004 Jul 11-16; 15:(abstract no. C10253)
Saini R, Aggarwal A, Jindal N, Kaur A, Singh J Govt Medical College, Amritsar, India
In order to determine the prevalence of STI in a representative rural population in North India a cross sectional community based study was conducted. A total of four districts which were situated in different geographic locations in the State of Punjab were chosen to be included in this study. The study was conducted by holding four health camps which were manned by a gynecologist, STD specialist, microbiologist and a public health specialist in addition to ancillary staff. Subjects in the reproductive age group were included in a randomized manner so as to include at least 100 subjects (50 males and 50 females) in each camp. A detailed history, physical examination was carried out in all subjects with particular emphasis on the detection of STIs. The clinical examination included abdominal palpation, vaginal examination, speculum examination, collection of vaginal or urethral secretions, urine examination, wet mount for gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, candidiasis and bacterial vaginosis were taken. Venous blood sample was collected for syphilis, herpes, HIV. PAP smear for HPV was also taken. It was found that 7% of the subjects had candidiasis, 14.5% bacterial vaginosis, 0.25% serologically positive for syphilis, 20.5% had a positive ELISA test for HSV, 0.5% HIV Positive and 1% gonorrhoea.
CONCLUSION: This cross sectional study of a rural population points out to a high prevalence of STIs, particularly HSV, gonorrhoea and HIV. There is a need for prioritizing diagnostic, preventive and curative services in rural areas. The misconception of STIs being a problem of the urban areas needs to be rethought.
Keywords: AEGIS, Prevalence, Cross-Sectional Studies, Gonorrhea, Rural Population, Vaginosis, Bacterial, HIV Infections, Syphilis, India, Trichomonas Infections, Candidiasis, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Seropositivity, Humans, Male, Female, epidemiology
