title: Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and human papillomavirus in a sexual health clinic setting in urban Sri Lanka.
abstract: The prevalences of Trichomonas vaginalis, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and human papillomavirus (HPV) in Sri Lanka are not well reported; the objective of this study is to describe the prevalences of these four sexually transmitted infections among attendees of sexual health clinic in an urban setting. Vaginal swabs were collected from consenting women attending a sexual health clinic and tested for the presence of the above sexually transmitted infections using nucleic acid amplification techniques. Basic demographic details were sought from each participant (483 women of age range 14-61, median 30 years, IQR 12 years) via a research assistant-administered questionnaire. Overall, a prevalence of T. vaginalis, C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae and HPV was 2.3%, (95% CI: 1.2-4.1%), 8.2% (95% CI: 5.6-11.4%), 7.6% (95% CI: 5.2-10.8%), and 44.4% (95% CI: 39.8-49.1%), respectively. Among the 197 positive for HPV, HPV6 accounted for 23.1%, HPV16 (12.5%), then HPV11, HPV66 and HPV58 were the commonest. Vaccine-related types (6/11/16/18) were detected in 59.9% of cases (95%CI: 52.7-66.8%). The high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (45.2%) is a potential risk factor for an increase in HIV infections in the country and the high carriage of HPV supports the need for cervical cancer screening and prevention programmes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia nirma.samarawickrema@monash.edu.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Samarawickrema
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gunawardena
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, The Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Garland
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D014247:Trichomonas Vaginitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Sexually transmitted infections; Sri Lanka; Trichomonas vaginalis; human papillomavirus; nucleic acid amplification techniques; prevalence; screening; women