Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Epidemiology of reproductive tract infections (RTIs) in Malawi

2007; University of Malawi College of Medicine; Volume: 18; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4314/mmj.v18i4.10921

1995-7270

D Muual, Eveline Geubbels,

Cervical Cancer and HPV Research

Most of the studies on STI prevalence in Malawi have been conducted among selected groups such as commercial sex workers antenatal clinic attendees prisoners HIV infected subjects and STI clinic attendees. One study from Mangochi reported age-specific community based prevalence data on gonorrhoea and Chlamydia. Other community based STI prevalence studies have been conducted by the University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with UNC Project in Mangochi Mchinji Balaka and Rumphi. These studies have demonstrated lower prevalence of STIs in these population than in the studies of special groups. Only the HMIS data (health facility based) and two studies reported data on STI incidence. When comparing data from different studies one has to take into account that the use of different diagnostic definitions of STIs (e.g. syndromic versus lab-based diagnosis) biological samples (e.g. semen versus urine) and laboratory methods (e.g. culture versus PCR for gonorrhoea) results in different likelihood of diagnosing the STI. For instance Kaydos-Daniels et al e.g. reported that semen was more sensitive than urine or urethral swab in the determination of Trichomonas vaginalis among men attending Lilongwe Central Hospital (LCH). Only one study on bacterial vaginosis was found on the occurrence of endogenous RTIs and one other on the prevalence of HPV infection. Sexual transmission does not appear to be a major mode of transmission of hepatitis B in Malawi and is not included in this chapter. (excerpt)