Accuracy of syndromic management in targeting vaginal and cervical infections among symptomatic women of reproductive age attending primary care clinics in Dakar, Senegal.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of the WHO syndromic algorithm in the management of vaginal discharge among women of reproductive age in Dakar. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of consecutive female patients (aged 18-49 years) presenting with vaginal symptoms at six selected study sites in Dakar; of these, 276 patients were included in the analysis. Vaginal and cervical swab samples were collected and analysed to establish an aetiological diagnosis of any infection. Syndrome-based diagnosis was compared with the laboratory results to evaluate its accuracy based on sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values. The degree of agreement between the two approaches was assessed using the Cohen's kappa concordance analysis. RESULTS: Overall prevalence of vaginal infections was 56.9% (157/276); 5.4% (15/276) of the patients had cervical infection. Using the syndromic approach, 51% of patients were correctly managed for Trichomonas vaginalis (TV)/Gardnerella vaginalis (GV); 61% for Candida albicans (CA) and 54% for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT)/Neisseria gonorrhoea (NG) infections. Consequently, 31% of patients with TV/GV, 51% with CA and 53% with CT/NG infections would have missed treatment. Further, the kappa value was <0.20, indicating that there was no agreement or only slight agreement between the syndromic approach and laboratory-based diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the limitations of the applicability of the WHO syndromic approach in settings with low prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and calls for affordable and accurate rapid tests for STIs.

Evaluation of syndromic management guidelines for treatment of sexually transmitted infections in South African women.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of three different guidelines for the management of vaginal discharge syndrome (VDS) for women living in a rural setting in South Africa. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study in Mopani District, South Africa. The 2015 and 2008 guidelines of the South African Department of Health (DoH) and the most recent WHO guidelines were evaluated for adequate treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Mycoplasma genitalium and Trichomonas vaginalis infection. RESULTS: Of the 489 women included in this analysis, 35% presented with VDS according to the DoH and 30% per WHO definition of VDS. Fifty-six per cent of the women with VDS would be treated adequately for these STI when using the 2015 DoH guideline, whereas 76% (P = 0.01) and 64% (P = 0.35) would receive adequate treatment with the 2008 DoH and WHO guidelines, respectively. Of the symptomatic women who tested negative for all four STI, STI treatment would have been indicated for 36% as per 2015 DoH guideline vs. 69% (P < 0.001) per 2008 DoH and 67% (P < 0.001) per WHO guidelines. CONCLUSION: A considerable proportion of symptomatic women infected with these common curable STI would receive adequate treatment when using a syndromic management approach, and significant differences exist between the three guidelines. Many symptomatic women without these STI receive broad-spectrum antibiotics, so new approaches are needed to improve syndromic STI control.