Decline in sexually transmitted disease prevalence in female Bolivian sex workers: impact of an HIV prevention project.

OBJECTIVE: To implement an HIV prevention intervention among female commercial sex workers (CSW), and to monitor key outcomes using routinely collected clinical and laboratory data. DESIGN: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of data from an open-enrollment cohort. SETTING: One public sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic and about 25 brothels in La Paz, Bolivia. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 508 female CSW who work at brothels and attend a public STD clinic. INTERVENTION: Improved STD clinical care, supported by periodic laboratory testing, and behavioral interventions performed by a local non-governmental organization. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence of gonorrhea, syphilis (reactive plasma reagin titer > or = 1 : 16), genital ulcer disease, chlamydial infection, and trichomoniasis; self-reported condom use in the previous month; and HIV seroprevalence. RESULTS: From 1992 through 1995, prevalence of gonorrhea among CSW declined from 25.8 to 9.9% (P < 0.001), syphilis from 14.9 to 8.7% (P = 0.02), and genital ulcer disease from 5.7 to 1.3% (P = 0.006); trends in prevalence of chlamydial infection and trichomoniasis were not significant. Self-reported condom use during vaginal sex in the past month increased from 36.3 to 72.5% (P < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis, condom use was inversely associated with gonorrhea [odds ratio (OR), 0.63; 95% confidence interval (Cl), 0.41-0.97], syphilis (OR, 0.39; 95% Cl, 0.23-0.64), and trichomoniasis (OR, 0.44; 95% Cl, 0.32-0.71). In 1995, HIV seroprevalence among CSW was 0.1%. CONCLUSION: Effective prevention interventions for female CSW can be implemented through public services and non-governmental organizations while HIV rates are still low, and key outcomes can be monitored using data obtained from periodic screening examinations.

A method for identifying persons at high risk for sexually transmitted infections: opportunity for targeting intervention.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop a method to identify persons at high risk for acquiring new sexually transmitted infections. METHODS: Computerized medical records from sexually transmitted disease clinics in Dade County, Florida, were used to conduct a retrospective cohort study. For all patients who visited in 1987, risk factors were identified for returning to the clinics within a year with a new sexually transmitted infection. Predictor variables were derived from the index visit and any visits in the year prior to the index visit. Logistic regression was used to develop a model that was applied to all patients who attended in 1989. RESULTS: Of 24,439 patients attending in 1987, 18.5% returned within a year with a new infection. Return rates were highest for 15- to 19-year-old Black males (31.8%). The highest odds ratios for returning were a diagnosis or treatment for an infection in the previous year and a diagnosis or treatment for infection at the index visit. The patients predicted to be at highest risk had a 39% return rate. There were as many new infections among the 2893 patients at highest risk as there were among the 13,326 patients at lowest risk. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a model that identifies persons at very high risk for sexually transmitted infection. These persons should be targeted for intensive intervention to reduce their risk.

Syphilis and gonorrhea in Miami: similar clustering, different trends.

During the second half of the 1980s, Miami had a syphilis epidemic while gonorrhea rates decreased. To determine whether the direction of these trends truly differed within all population subgroups or whether they resulted from aggregating groups within which trends were similar, records from four sexually transmitted disease clinics from 1986 to 1990 and census data from 1990 were used to compare race-, sex-, age-, and zip code-specific groups. Syphilis and gonorrhea clustering was similar; 50% of cases occurred in the same zip codes, representing 10% of the population. In all groups, gonorrhea decreased (aggregate 48%) while syphilis first increased (aggregate 47%) and then decreased. Determining reasons for these different trends may facilitate controlling these diseases.

Trends in the acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases among HIV-positive patients at STD clinics, Miami 1988-1992.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To assess trends in the acquisition of new sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among patients who test positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at STD clinics. STUDY DESIGN: Cohorts of HIV-positive and HIV-negative persons were compared using computerized records from Miami STD clinics for 1988-1992. Persons were assigned to cohorts according to their first positive or first negative HIV test results. New STDs were defined if persons had new diagnoses of gonorrhea, primary or secondary syphilis, chancroid, or lymphogranuloma venereum; were undergoing treatment as contacts for syphilis or gonorrhea; or were undergoing epidemiologic treatment for syphilis or gonorrhea. RESULTS: Of the 103,549 persons who visited the clinics, 53,467 were tested for HIV, and 5,615 had results that were positive. The percentages returning with new STDs were similar for the HIV-positive and HIV-negative cohorts, and both decreased over time. For the 1988 cohorts, 26% of those testing positive and 30% of those testing negative for HIV returned with at least one STD within 5 years. Returns with STD within 1 year decreased from 16% in 1988 to 3% in 1992. CONCLUSIONS: Returns decreased dramatically among HIV-positive cohorts; however, there were similar decreases of new STDs among HIV-negative cohorts, so the decrease may have been caused by the decreasing prevalence of bacterial STD in the community rather than by behavioral changes among HIV-positive persons.

Prevalence of genital chlamydial infection in young women entering a national job training program, 1990-1997.

OBJECTIVES: This analysis describes trends in the prevalence of genital chlamydial infection in economically disadvantaged young women entering a national job training program. METHODS: We examined chlamydia test data for May 1990 through June 1997 for women aged 16 to 24 years who enrolled in the program. The significance of trends was evaluated with the chi 2 test for trend. RESULTS: Prevalence of chlamydial infection declined 32.9%, from 14.9% in 1990 to 10.0% in 1997 (P < .001). Prevalence decreased significantly in all age groups, racial/ethnic groups, and geographic regions. CONCLUSIONS: The decrease in prevalence of chlamydial infection suggests that prevention activities have reached disadvantaged women across the United States; however, prevalence of chlamydial infection remains high, and enhanced prevention efforts in disadvantaged communities are urgently needed.