Prevalence and Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections among South Indians at Increased Risk of HIV Infection

Abstract

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been identified as cofactors of HIV transmission. Greater understanding of local STI burdens can assist in the development of more effective STI and HIV prevention strategies. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and incidence of STIs among South Indian men and women identified to be at increased risk for HIV infection. Individuals at increased risk for HIV infection were enrolled in a prospective longitudinal study in Chennai, India (n ϭ 480) between August 2002 and December 2003. Participants were enrolled from patients seeking services at an sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic and a confidential HIV testing and counseling program. The most common prevalent STIs were herpes simplex virus (HSV)-2 (50% of women, 29% of men), syphilis (11% of women, 8% of men), and Trichomonas vaginalis (6% of women). At enrollment, women, participants with no schooling, participants with greater than four sex partners, and single participants were found to be at increased risk for HSV-2 infection (p Ͻ 0.05). The two most common incident STIs at 12 months were HSV-2 with 12% of men and 8% of women testing positive and hepatitis B with 2% of men and 5% of women testing hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive. In this cohort of South Indian men and women with a high background prevalence of HSV-2, suppressive therapy against herpes replication may have a substantial impact in reducing both HSV-2 transmission and HIV acquisition. With the high incidence of STIs, targeted prevention and clinical management strategies among individuals practicing high risk behaviors may help to slow the continued spread of HIV in India.

A clinical study on genital warts and HIV in Bangladesh

“…STD patients with high risk sex behaviour can be co-infected with HIV and other STDs like syphilis, vaginitis etc. 20 In this study too, proportionally more STDs were identified in HIV positive patients though not statistically significant. Again STDs are (Table 7) more in HIV positive versus (v/s) negative.…”

Syphilis and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Sero-Prevalence Among Female Sex Workers and Men Who Have Sex with Men in Ecuador and Andhra Pradesh (India)

“…However, in the last few years, this infection has been placed among the most common in high-risk population groups in India (Kumarasamy et al, 2008). Data taken from FSW sample groups show that a high percentage of them are infected with HSV-2, reporting a prevalence of 56 to 73% (Shahmanesh et al, 2009;Uma et al, 2005;Wayal et al, 2011).…”

A molecular-beacon-based asymmetric PCR assay for easy visualization of amplicons in the diagnosis of trichomoniasis

“…Surveillance data indicates that about 170-190 million including 76.5 million new cases are reported annually in South East Asia (WHO, 2012). In India, trichomoniasis accounts for 1.2-28.5% amongst commercial sex workers, general community and migrated population and 61.7% in women attending STD clinics (WHO, 2005;Kumarasamy et al, 2008;Kaur et al, 2008;Sood et al, 2008;Shethwala et al, 2009;Shahmanesh, et al, 2009;Madhivanan et al, 2009;Preethi et al, 2011;Paul et al, 2012;Fule et al, 2012;Dave et al, 2012;Dharma et al, 2013;Desai et al, 2013;Arora et al, 2014). One of the reasons for this wide variation in prevalence could be use of diagnostic assays that are highly variable in sensitivity and specificity (Schwebke et al, 2004;Radonjic et al, 2005;Nye et al, 2009;Unemo et al, 2013;Sonkar et al, 2016).…”