The legal framework covering the practice of genitourinary medicine in the UK: the Venereal Diseases Regulations.

The legal framework governing the practice of genitourinary medicine is traced from 1916 to the present. The first legislation, the Public Health (Venereal Diseases) Regulations of 1916 was comprehensive, and accompanied by guidance on setting up outpatient clinics and their supporting laboratories with practical advice on taking samples to support clinical diagnosis. Confidentiality was emphasized. The regulations led to the development of a nationwide network of clinics providing free care, open at times convenient to the public, and situated in general hospitals in large centres of population. Most of the principles still apply. Subsequent legislation centred on maintaining the confidentiality of all information obtained in relation to persons examined or treated for venereal disease, but allows transfer of details between healthcare providers to facilitate care and contact tracing. While the initial regulations stated that the venereal diseases were syphilis, gonorrhoea and chancroid, the legislation now covers all sexually transmitted diseases.

Characteristics of those who repeatedly acquire sexually transmitted infections: a retrospective cohort study of attendees at three urban sexually transmitted disease clinics in England.

BACKGROUND: Individuals who repeatedly acquire sexually transmitted infections (STIs) may facilitate the persistence of disease at endemic levels. Identifying those most likely to become reinfected with an STI would help in the development of targeted interventions. GOAL: To investigate the demographic and behavior characteristics of sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic patients most likely to reattend with an STI. STUDY DESIGN: The proportion of patients attending three STD clinics in England between 1994 and 1998 who reattended for treatment of acute STI within 1 year was estimated from Kaplan-Meier failure curves. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to investigate the relation between rate of reattendance with an acute STI and patient characteristics. RESULTS: Of the 17,466 patients presenting at an STD clinic with an acute STI, 14% reattended for treatment of an STI within 1 year. Important determinants of reinfection were age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity: 20% of 12- to 15-year-old females (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.90; CI, 1.13-3.18, compared with 20- to 24-year-old females), 22% of homosexual men (adjusted HR, 1.30; CI, 1.07-1.58, compared with heterosexual men), and 25% of black Caribbean attendees (adjusted HR, 1.87; CI, 1.63-2.13, compared with whites) reattended for treatment of acute STI within 1 year. In addition, 21% of those with a history of STI (adjusted HR, 1.42; CI, 1.28-1.59, compared with those with no history of STI) and 17% of individuals reporting three or more partners in the recent past (adjusted HR, 1.53; CI, 1.34-1.73, compared with those with one partner) reattended for treatment of an acute STI within 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: In this STD clinic population, teenage females, homosexual men, black Caribbean attendees, individuals with a history of STI, and those reporting high rates of sexual partner change repeatedly re-presented with acute STIs. Directing enhanced STD clinic-based interventions at these groups may be an effective strategy for STI control.

Prostatitis.

Prostatitis, especially chronic prostatitis, is sometimes regarded as an obscure, ill-defined condition, perhaps because the anatomical location of the gland and ill-defined symptoms make diagnosis difficult. Treatment may appear time consuming and tiresome for doctor and patient, but by following established principles, diagnosis is often simple and management straightforward.

The chronic prostatitis syndromes.

Three chronic prostatitis syndromes are recognised, chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP), chronic nonbacterial prostatitis (CNBP), and prostatodynia. All may occur in men of military age, and may tax the patience of medical officers and patients whose capacity for full duty will be impaired. Diagnosis depends on identifying micro-organisms in CBP and white cells in CNBP in prostatic secretion (EPS) expressed by prostatic massage. In prostatodynia there are clinical features of prostatitis but no evidence of inflammation. Prostatic massage should be preceded by trans-rectal ultrasound which may show prostatitis and other pathology, and has simplified the investigation of these syndromes. Management includes a high fluid intake, regular bowels with a soft stool, regular prostatic drainage by ejaculation and limited alcohol intake. Antimicrobials are indicated for CBP and probably for CNBP, and need to be continued for at least three months in many cases. Other measures for treating CNBP are less well established. Prostatodynia is an ill defined syndrome which requires careful evaluation and patients may need psychiatric therapy.

Diagnosis of chronic prostatitis: overview and update.

Symptoms and signs are unhelpful in the diagnosis of chronic prostatitis which in many cases continues to rest on comparison of white cells and organisms in urine samples collected before (VB2) and after (VB3) prostatic massage to express prostatic secretion (EPS), and particularly in the EPS itself, if this is obtained. A series of 195 patients is reviewed, 38 with chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP), 66 with chronic non-bacterial prostatitis (CNBP), 55 with prostatodynia, and 31 with a history of recurrent urethritis without prostatitis. Demographic characteristics and history of recurrent urethritis were similar in all groups indicating that recurrent urethritis alone does not predispose to prostatitis. The upper limit of normal for the EPS while cell count was taken as 1000/mm3 in line with other reports. With this, the upper limit of normal for the estimate of white cells by simple microscopy appeared to be about 5/high power field (hpf) rather than the figure of 10 often quoted; with the latter figure, a number of cases of CNBP would have been missed. All microscopy was undertaken with the same microscope using a x 40 objective. Culture results showed a predominance of enterococci, and cultural and cytological findings in EPS and VB3 were comparable. On microscopy, clumping of white cells was associated with increased numbers-mentioned previously in the literature but not supported by data. Ejaculation just before examination was associated with reduced rather than the increased numbers of cells previously reported. Individual investigators should assess their own methods in determining upper limits of normal for cells. In a separate series of 8 patients with symptoms compatible with prostatitis, transrectal ultrasound scanning showed a prostatic cyst; aspiration was associated with relief of symptoms. It is concluded that transrectal ultrasound scanning (TRUS) should precede prostatic investigation by prostatic massage as this may save the prolonged treatment often necessary for prostatitis.

Genital herpes. A guide to pharmacological therapy.

The pharmacological therapy for genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection remains dominated by aciclovir, although a number of related compounds are currently under investigation. Recommended treatment for initial genital HSV infection is oral aciclovir 200mg 5 times daily for 5 days, with intravenous therapy reserved for complicated episodes. Although topical aciclovir may be of benefit, no improvement in the systemic symptoms is provided by this formulation. No preparation prevents the onset of recurrent episodes. The management of recurrent episodes is more controversial, with studies of episodic treatment with both topical and oral aciclovir yielding mixed and at times conflicting results. Episodic treatment with oral aciclovir initiated early by the patient appears to have the most favourable results, and if initiated at the onset of prodromal symptoms may abort the episode in some patients. In patients with frequent recurrences, suppressive therapy with oral aciclovir should be considered. A starting dose of 200mg 4 times daily appears to be the most effective, although 400mg twice daily may suffice. The total daily dose should be reduced as far as possible, and treatment should be interrupted on a yearly basis to determine the need for continuing suppression. The management and pharmacological therapy of genital HSV in pregnancy remains controversial and studies of oral aciclovir in late pregnancy are currently under way. Genital HSV infection may be particularly severe in the immunocompromised host and suppressive oral aciclovir should be initiated promptly. HSV resistance to aciclovir is an increasing problem in such patients, in particular those infected with HIV, and may necessitate treatment with intravenous foscarnet.

Meatoscopy: an important technique for assessing meatal warts in men.

A total of 506 meatoscopic examinations showed this is a simple, safe, rapid, well-tolerated, useful procedure to assess the extent of warts at the meatus and in the distal urethra of men. The procedure was performed in 307 patients. Sixty-five (52.5%) of 124 men with meatal warts had additional urethral lesions not readily treatable. All proximal warts were confined to the fossa navicularis. Meatoscopy assisted in immediate rational planning of therapy. In assessing patients without meatal warts, lesions in the fossa navicularis were observed in 4 (6.7%) of 60 men with external penile warts, 4 (7.8%) of 51 men with a history of 3 previous episodes of urethritis, and in 8 (23.5%) of 34 men who had been in contact with warts. No relation was found between the distribution of warts, demographic details of patients, or duration of warts; the effect of previous urethritis on development of warts was unclear. It was concluded, following 199 repeated examinations, that the procedure was not associated with recurrence or proximal extension. Only 2 minor adverse events were recorded. Meatoscopy is recommended as part of the assessment of men with meatal warts and men who have been in contact with warts. The procedure should be considered in patients with external warts but no meatal warts, and in patients with a history of 3 previous episodes of urethritis over 3 years.