Urogenital tract infections in pregnancy at King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban, South Africa.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the role of detecting asymptomatic bacteriuria and endocervical infections in the black prenatal patients attending King Edward VIII Hospital (KEH), Durban, with the view of justifying a screening programme. Screening for syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were also evaluated.


METHODS
181 asymptomatic black prenatal patients attending the antenatal clinic for their first antenatal visit volunteered for the study and gave their written consent.


METHODS
Examination of each prenatal patient included obtaining of endocervical swabs to detect endocervical infections (C trachomatis, N gonorrhoeae), serum for syphilitic and HIV testing, and a midstream specimen of urine for microscopy and culture.


RESULTS
Asymptomatic bacteriuria was found in 5.6% of patients in this study. Cervical infections were diagnosed microbiologically in 8.2% of women. These were N gonorrhoeae in 4.1% and C trachomatis in 4.7%. Serological tests for sexually transmitted diseases showed the presence of syphilis in 7.6% and antibody to the HIV in 1.9%. Overall, one or more sexually transmitted diseases were found in 16.5% of the women studied.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that all women presenting for routine antenatal care in a setting such as Durban should be screened for lower genital tract infections. Ideally this should include a midstream urine specimen for culture, serum for syphilitic and HIV antibody testing and endocervical swabs for sexually transmitted pathogens. In developing communities, however, more reliable and cheaper methods of endocervical screening need to be available before antenatal screening for cervico-vaginal infections can be justified.
Dietrich
M
M
Obstetric Research Group, Faculty of Medicine, University of Natal, Congella, South Africa.
Hoosen
A A
AA
Moodley
J
J
Moodley
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001437:Bacteriuria / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000382:microbiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013587:Syphilis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000382:microbiology