No abstract

No abstract

From May 1981 through February 1983, greater than 1,700 patients were examined for genital ulcers at the Orange County Special Diseases Clinic in Santa Ana, California. Of these patients, 923 had either confirmed chancroid or genital ulcers of unknown etiology. Haemophilus ducreyi was recovered from lesions or inguinal buboes of 271 patients. In the previous year, no cases of chancroid were reported in this community. Men accounted for 266 (98%) of the confirmed cases; 95% of the men were Hispanic, and at least 53% had had sexual contact with a prostitute. All five culture-positive women were prostitutes. Antimicrobial sensitivity testing showed resistance to both sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline but susceptibility to erythromycin and to the combination trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Treatment of patients with chancroid, their sex partners, and temporarily incarcerated prostitutes contributed to the successful control of this outbreak.

In order to assess racial differences in rates of idiopathic preterm labour, preterm premature rupture of membranes, and medically indicated preterm delivery, the authors analysed data on 388 preterm (< 37 completed weeks of gestation) births (7.9% of all births) occurring between 1 September 1988 and 31 August 1989, in three central North Carolina counties. The crude relative risk (RR) of preterm birth among black women compared with white women was 2.6 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1, 3.1]. With adjustment for age, gravidity, marital status, education, and county of residence, the estimated relative risk for black women compared with white women was 2.1 (95% CI 1.1, 4.1) for medically indicated preterm delivery, 1.6 (95% CI 1.1, 2.3) for preterm birth as a result of preterm labour, and 1.9 (95% CI 1.2, 3.1) for preterm premature rupture of membranes. Compared with white women, black women were at the highest risk of a preterm birth before 34 weeks of gestation (RR = 2.9; 95% CI 1.8, 4.7). The risk of medically indicated preterm delivery at 36 weeks was considerably higher for black women than for white women (RR = 3.4; 95% CI 1.1, 10.2). For a better understanding and ultimately a reduction of the risk for preterm delivery among black women, investigation of specific aetiological pathways and gestational age groups may be required.