Prevalence of five treatable sexually transmitted infections among women in Lower River region of the Gambia
Butcher, R.; Jarju, S.; Obayemi, D.; Bashorun, A.O.; Vasileva, H.; Bransbury-Hare, H.; Agboghoroma, O.; Drammeh, L.; Holland, M.; Harding-Esch, E.; Clarke, E.
Bmc Infectious Diseases 23(1): 471
2023
ISSN/ISBN: 1471-2334 PMID: 37442966 Document Number: 199515
The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in sub-Saharan Africa is poorly described. We aimed to determine the prevalence of five treatable STIs (Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, Mycoplasma genitalium, Treponema pallidum) in a sample of Gambian women from the general population. Archived specimens from 420 women aged 15 - 69 years living in The Gambia enrolled in a clinical trial of human papilloma virus vaccine schedules were tested in this study. Urine samples were tested for C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, T. vaginalis and M. genitalium using a commercially available, open-platform multiplex PCR kit. A fragment of the ompA gene was amplified from C. trachomatis-positive samples and sequenced. Serum samples were tested for T. pallidum using the Chembio DPP Syphilis Screen and Confirm test. Overall, 41/420 (9.8%) women tested positive for at least one STI. 32 (7.6%), 9 (2.1%), 1 (0.2%), 1 (0.2%) and 0 (0.0%) tested positive for T. vaginalis, C. trachomatis, N gonorrhoeae, M. genitalium and T. pallidum, respectively. ompA gene sequence was available from five C. trachomatis infections: four were genovar D,one was genovar G and one was genovar F. STIs are endemic in The Gambia. Monitoring systems should be established.