High burden of sexually transmitted infections among under-resourced populations in the Dominican Republic.

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a major health issue, exacerbated by limited financial and infrastructural resources in developing countries. Methods: Prevalence of STIs was assessed in two urban centers of the Dominican Republic (DR) among populations at high risk for STIs: pregnant youth, men who have sex with men (MSM), trans women (TG), batey residents, female sex workers, and people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We conducted a cross-sectional survey and biological specimen collection to screen for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhea, Mycoplasma genitalium, Trichomonas vaginalis (trichomoniasis), Treponema pallidum (syphilis), HIV, hepatitis B and C, and human papillomavirus (HPV) among at-risk populations between 2015 and 2018. Ureaplasma urealyticum testing was also conducted even though it is not considered a STI. A non-probability community sample was recruited. Descriptive statistics examined the prevalence of STIs by population. Results: A total of 1991 subjects participated in the study. The median age was 26 years (range: 18-65). Most participants were female (65.3%), heterosexual (76.7%), and were not partnered (55.7%). Most of the participants reported unprotected vaginal sex in the last 6 months (54%); among MSM and TG almost half of the participants reported unprotected anal sex in the last 6 months and 17.6% reported drug use in the last 6 months. Almost half of the participants (49%) tested positive for one or more STIs. The most prevalent STI was Chlamydia trachomatis (12.8%), and human papillomavirus (11.9%). Among transgender women, 65.3% tested positive for an STI, 64.8% of female sex workers tested positive for an STI, and 53.8% of pregnant adolescents tested positive for an STI. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of STIs among key and under resourced populations in the DR. Our findings highlight the need to conduct further research to optimize prevention and care strategies for structurally vulnerable and under resourced populations in the DR.

Oligonucleotide array CGH studies in myeloproliferative neoplasms: comparison with JAK2V617F mutational status and conventional chromosome analysis.

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), using oligo arrays with either 44,000 or 105,000 oligonucleotides, was performed on granulocyte-derived DNA from 71 patients with BCR-ABL-negative classic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs): 32 primary myelofibrosis (PMF), 26 polycythemia vera (PV) and 13 essential thrombocythemia (ET). Copy number changes (CNCs) were detected in 44%, 35%, and 15% of the cases with PMF, PV and ET, respectively. In ET and PMF, CNCs were more frequently detected in the presence of JAK2V617F (50% vs. 19%; p=0.05). Conventional chromosome analysis was obtained in 57 patients either at diagnosis or within 1 year of the array CGH study; all 21 patients with PV and 11 with ET displayed normal cytogenetic findings despite the presence of CNCs in 29% and 18%, respectively. In PMF, the respective rates of CNCs and abnormal karyotype were 48% and 36%; karyotypic abnormalities, including unbalanced translocations, were often detected by array CGH as chromosomal gains or losses. This preliminary report suggests a potential value for array CGH in terms of both clinical diagnostics and genomic research in MPNs.