title: High occurrence of HBV among STD clinic attenders in Bombay, India.
abstract: The pattern of sexually transmitted disease (STD) is the basis for designing surveillance of specific STD, their trends and syndromic management protocols. Two hundred and fifteen consecutive first-time STD clinic attenders at a teaching hospital in Bombay were recruited for the study in October 1995. Thorough clinical examination and the following investigations were done: wet mount, Gram stain, Giemsa stain, modified Thayer-Martin (MTM) medium culture, Fontana stain, Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL), Treponema pallidium haemagglutination test (TPHA), HBsAg and HIV. Ulcerative STD constituted 73.5% of total STD while 15.8% were discharges and 10.2% were genital growths. Ulcers in decreasing order of frequency were chancroid (51.9%), genital herpes (29.1%) and syphilis (14.5). 76.5% of genital discharges were due to gonococcal infection. The high rate of ulcerative STD is possibly an important co-factor for the high HIV prevalence of 31.2% in Bombay. Of 182 patients tested for HBV, 16 (8.8%) were reactive for HBsAg, revealing a high prevalence among STD attenders. A high co-relation of HBsAg positive with either HIV or VDRL requires urgent attention for HBV intervention strategies in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Skin/STD and Microbiology, Sir J J Group of Hospitals, Bombay, India.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hira
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohli
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Dalal
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Ramnani
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Jagtap
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D013587:Syphilis / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens