[Sexually transmissible disease in tropical Africa]

Sexually transmitted diseases in tropical Africa are a severe problem. The facilities for diagnosis and treatment in general are pour. Reliable informations on epidemiology are rare. Gonorrhea and non-gonorrheal urethritis are probably the commonest in tropical Africa, frequently giving rise to epididymitis, urethral strictures and salpingitis as well as pelvic inflammatory diseases, important factors of infertility. Evidence available suggests that the incidence of infectious syphilis is high. Some authors however are of the opinion that there is a steady decline of the condition. Among young children gonococcal vulvovaginitis and ophthalmia neonatorum as well as congenital syphilis are still very common. The management of sexually transmitted diseases has been briefly reviewed as well as the role of socio-cultural attitudes.

Epidemiology of gonococcal vulvovaginitis among children in the tropics

In a three-year prospective clinical study, 42 children aged between 1 and 12 years were found to have gonococcal vulvovaginitis. Epidemiological investigations showed that contaminated fomites--particularly bedclothing, underclothing, and towels--and precocious sexual intercourse were the important vehicles of transmission of gonococci to the genital tract of these children.

[Frequency of vulvovaginitis in girls with intestinal enterobiasis]

The study included 415 female patients with the diagnosis of enterobiasis seen at the Hospital del Niño, DIF. Vulvovaginitis was found in 78 cases (18%), with definite predominance in the school-age group. The clinical manifestations in order of frequency were: perianal and vulvar pruritus, abdominal pain, leukorrhea and vulvar edema. Graham's perianal and perineal smear method was performed with 100% positiveness in personal and 85% in perineal smears. The treatment should be directed to improve the family sanitary habites and the prescription of the choice drug to the patient and to his family. The following drugs are quite as effective: piperazine citrate, pyrvinium pamoate, pyrantel pamoate and mebendazole. The physician should use the drug that better fits the patients convenience, keeping in mind the easy determination of the dose and the cost in order to offer the patient and his family the best choice.

The IBR-IPV virus-serum neutralization test. Sensitivity and significance of the tissue culture tube test

A modification of the IBR-IPV virus-serum neutralization test (tissue culture tube test) was used in examinations of three groups of cattle: animals at AI centres; selected herds from infected districts; and pregnant cows and heifers from all over the country. In, respectively, 141 samples out of 1335, 215 out of 344, and 46 out of 7928, a virus-neutralizing effect was demonstrated. Within the three groups of samples, respectively, 2.8 %, 29.4 %, and 28.3 % of samples positive by the modified test were negative by the conventional test, even with undiluted serum. The findings gave strong evidence that all positive reactions were results of a preceding infection. All animals with a history of infection responded serologically when examined by the modified test, but still the distribution of the titers recorded in herd examinations indicates the desirability of a further improvement in the sensitivity of the test.

Seasonal variation of streptococcal vulvo-vaginitis in an urban community

A study was made of patients investigated by general practitioners. Over a three-year period Streptococcus pyogenes (group A) was isolated most commonly from vaginal and vulval swabs collected in the winter. The serotypes of strains indicate that some had probably been derived from the skin and others from the respiratory tract. The two sources are thought to have masked a consistent, but not obvious, seasonal variation in streptococcal vulvo-vaginitis acquired usually from streptococcal infections of the respiratory tract in winter and from those of the skin in summer.