A Study of Co-Infection With Neisseria Gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia Trachomatis in Male Urethritis

Abstract

BACKGROUNDSexually Transmitted Infections (STI) remain a public health problem of major significance in most parts of the world. The incidence of acute STI is believed to be high in many countries and failure to diagnose (due to asymptomatic nature of STIs) and treating STI at an early stage may result in serious complications and sequelae including infertility, foetal wastage, ectopic pregnancy, anogenital cancer and premature death as well as neonatal and infant infections. The individual and national expenditure for STI care can be substantial. (1) STDs thus became first biological and medical problems, but also social and political health interventions fail to address the full complexity of these social diseases. (2) The recent emergence of HIV/AIDS has added new relevance to the history of STDs. In a remarkably short period of time, AIDS has become a dominant issue in both medical and social discussion of health. (3) The present study is undertaken to note the co-infection of Neisseria gonorrhoea and Chlamydia trachomatis in urethritis in male patients presenting with serous or mucopurulent, purulent discharge per urethra, clinically diagnosed as urethritis, attending the STD Department, Osmania General Hospital over a period of 12 months from January 2014 to December 2014.The aim of this study was to study the co-existence of Neisseria gonorrhoea and Chlamydia trachomatis in the male urethritis. Settings and Design-The study was conducted at STD Clinic, Dept. of DVL, Osmania Medical College/Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad and 1 st eligible 100 male patients with urethritis after passing through inclusion and exclusion criteria in the period of January 2014 to December 2014 were included in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODSIt is a descriptive study in which consequent sampling method with zero intervals is followed. All eligible male patients complaining of urethral discharge were included in the study after taking the informed consent. A detailed sexual history and active urethral discharge on milking of urethra is collected for the study purpose. RESULTSThe 100 male urethritis cases were studied in which N. Gonorrhoea is the cause in 74% of cases and Ch. Trachomatis is the cause in 14% of cases and in remaining 14% of cases the co-infection of N. Gonorrhoea and Ch. Trachomatis is the cause of urethritis. CONCLUSIONWhile treating a case of male urethral discharge in the resource limited setting with poor laboratory support, a combination treatment effective against both N. Gonorrhoea and Ch. Trachomatis should be provided due to presence of co-infections. KEYWORDS