title: Bacterial vaginosis in female sex workers in Chennai, India.
abstract: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) causes obstetric and gynaecological complications and non-chlamydial/non-gonococcal pelvic inflammatory disease and has been shown to be associated with the risk of acquiring HIV and herpes simplex (HSV)-2 infections. This study investigated both the prevalence of BV and its association with STDs among 582 female sex workers living in Chennai, South India. Blood, vaginal and endocervical swabs were tested for HSV-2, HIV, Treponema pallidum, BV, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoea and Trichomonas vaginalis. The vaginal swabs collected were Gram's stained and analysed for BV by Nugent's scoring criteria. Of the women studied, 45% (95% CI, 40.6-48.7) were positive, 39.5% (95% CI, 35.5-43.5) were negative and 16% (95% CI, 12.8-18.7) were intermediate for BV. Bacterial vaginosis positivity was directly related to concurrent infection with HSV-2 (RR 1.3, AR 12, P = 0.00), T vaginalis (RR 1.5, AR 10, P = 0.01) T. pallidum (RR 2.8, AR 16, P = 0.00) and HIV (RR 4.1, AR 52, P = 0.01). Future studies are needed to focus on the risk factors for BV.
authors.forename: Shanmugasundaram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uma
authors.forename: Pachamuthu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: Kailapuri G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Murugavel
authors.forename: Aylur K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Srikrishnan
authors.forename: Nagalingeswaran
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kumarasamy
authors.forename: Jebaraj A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cecelia
authors.forename: Santhanam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.forename: Kenneth H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Mayer
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Celentano
authors.forename: Sadras P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Thyagarajan
authors.forename: Suniti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Solomon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012736:Sex Education; D011477:Sex Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D016585:Vaginosis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D016387:Women's Health