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Dookhith ABF, Razack A, Isaacs AA. Investigating causes of the high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in Du Noon. S Afr Fam Pract (2004) 2024; 66:e1-e8. [PMID: 38572874 PMCID: PMC11019072 DOI: 10.4102/safp.v66i1.5794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In South Africa, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) represent a significant public health issue. Sexually transmitted infections contribute significantly to the burden of disease in South Africa and are recognised as one of the main causes of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential causes of the high prevalence of STIs in the Du Noon population. METHODS A mixed methodology study involving 40 participants between the ages of 18 years and 45 years was conducted at Du Noon community health centre from 01 May 2021 to 15 May 2021. Both structured questionnaires and one-on-one patient interviews with open-ended questions were utilised to collect data. RESULTS Cultural beliefs, having multiple partners, a lack of partner notification, alcohol consumption, and a lack of condom usage were found to be the main contributing factors to the high incidence of STIs. Sex education appears to be lacking. Our findings reflected the other well-known cultural and socioeconomic issues confronting South African communities, for example, poverty, age-disparate relationships, and polygamous relationships. CONCLUSION The cultural perspectives and understandings of sexual interactions of older men appear to have an impact on younger generations; as do peer pressure, social media and other socio-economic factors. There is an urgent need to shift cultural ideologies and norms among the youth. More research is needed to understand the views and misconceptions of the general public about STIs.Contribution: This study highlighted how health education challenges, interpersonal relationships, and socioeconomic barriers are still important factors in STI transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azhaar B F Dookhith
- Division of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa; and Metro Health Services (Western Cape), Cape Town.
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Wu X, Zhou X, Chen Y, Zhai K, Sun R, Luo G, Lin YF, Li Y, Yang C, Zou H. The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on cases and deaths of AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C in China: an interrupted time series analysis. JMIR Public Health Surveill 2023; 9:e40591. [PMID: 36634257 DOI: 10.2196/40591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND China has implemented nationwide lockdown to contain COVID-19 from an early stage. Previous studies of the impact of COVID-19 on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and diseases caused by blood-borne viruses (BBVs) in China have yielded widely disparate results, and study on deaths attributable to STDs and BBVs are scarce. OBJECTIVE We aimed to elucidate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the cases, deaths, and case-fatality ratios of STDs and BBVs. METHODS We extracted the monthly cases and deaths data for AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C between January 2015 and December 2021 from the notifiable disease reporting database on the official website of the National Health Commission of China. We used descriptive statistics to summarize the number of cases and deaths, and calculated incidence and case-fatality ratios before and after implementing nationwide lockdown (January 2020). We used negative binominal segmented regression models to estimate the immediate and long-term impacts of lockdown on cases, deaths, and case-fatality ratios in January 2020 and December 2021, respectively. RESULTS A total of 14,800,330 cases and 127,030 deaths of AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C were reported from January 2015 to December 2021, with an incidence of 149.11/100,000 before lockdown and 151.41/100,000 after lockdown , and a case-fatality ratio of 8.21/1000 before lockdown and 9.50/1000 after lockdown . In the negative binominal model, AIDS cases (-23.4%; 0.766, 0.626-0.939) and deaths (-23.9%; 0.761, 0.647-0.896), gonorrhea cases (-34.3%; 0.657, 0.524-0.823), syphilis cases (-15.4%; 0.846, 0.763-0.937), hepatitis B cases (-17.5%; 0.825, 0.726-0.937) and hepatitis C cases (-19.6%; 0.804, 0.693-0.933) showed significant decreases in January 2020. Gonorrhea, syphilis and hepatitis C showed small increases in the number of deaths or case-fatality ratios in January 2020. By December 2021, the cases, deaths, and case-fatality ratios for each disease had either reached or remained below expected levels. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 lockdown may have contributed to fewer reported cases of AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, and more reported deaths or case-fatality ratios of gonorrhea, syphilis and hepatitis C in China. CLINICALTRIAL
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinsheng Wu
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Xinyi Zhou
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Yuanyi Chen
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Ke Zhai
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Ruoyao Sun
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Ganfeng Luo
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Yi-Fan Lin
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Yuwei Li
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Chongguang Yang
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
| | - Huachun Zou
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China, No. 66, Gongchang Road, Guangming District, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518107, P.R. China, Shenzhen, CN
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Mongalo NI, Raletsena MV. An Inventory of South African Medicinal Plants Used in the Management of Sexually Transmitted and Related Opportunistic Infections: An Appraisal and Some Scientific Evidence (1990-2020). PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 11:3241. [PMID: 36501281 PMCID: PMC9738887 DOI: 10.3390/plants11233241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The current work is aimed at generating the first inventory of South African medicinal plants used in the treatment of sexually transmitted and related opportunistic infections associated with HIV-AIDS. This is important in assisting researchers to access a list of plant species to evaluate for potential phytocompounds, as this area of research is greatly lagging in South Africa. A total of 335 medicinal plants from 103 families have been documented in the current work. The most represented families are Fabaceae (11.64%) and Asteraceae (6.27%). Herbs constitute 36.53%, trees 32.34%, shrubs 29.04%, climbers 1.80% and parasites 0.30%. It is worrying that on the plant parts used, the roots constitute 47.18%, while leaves and stem bark yield 16.62 and 15.01%, respectively. Catharanthus roseus exhibited the highest number of citations (19), while Peltophorum africanum had 14 and both Carica papaya and Vachelia karoo had 12. In the mode of administration of the reported medicinal plant species, most of the plants are boiled and taken orally (48.22%), while other plant species are used as mouth washes (3.25%). Although there is reasonable in vitro activity of some of the plant species, validating the relevance of use, there is still a need to explore the mode of action of such plant species; isolated compounds and possible derivatives thereof are of paramount importance and need to be explored as well. Furthermore, toxicological aspects of such plant species need to be explored.
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Johnson LF, Coetzee DJ, Dorrington RE. Sentinel surveillance of sexually transmitted infections in South Africa: a review. Sex Transm Infect 2005; 81:287-93. [PMID: 16061532 PMCID: PMC1745020 DOI: 10.1136/sti.2004.013904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To review studies of sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence in South Africa between 1985 and 2003 in selected sentinel populations. To examine how STI prevalence varies between populations and to identify the limitations of the existing data. METHODS Studies of the prevalence of syphilis, chancroid, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, bacterial vaginosis, candidiasis, and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) were considered. Results were included if they related to women attending antenatal clinics or family planning clinics, commercial sex workers, individuals in the general population (household surveys), patients with STIs, patients with genital ulcer disease (GUD), or men with urethritis. RESULTS High STI prevalence rates have been measured, particularly in the case of HSV-2, trichomoniasis, bacterial vaginosis and candidiasis. The aetiological profile of GUD appears to be changing, with more GUD caused by HSV-2 and less caused by chancroid. The prevalence of gonorrhoea and syphilis is highest in "high risk" groups such as sex workers and attenders of STI clinics, but chlamydia and trichomoniasis prevalence levels are not significantly higher in these groups than in women attending antenatal clinics. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of STIs in South Africa is high, although there is extensive variability between regions. There is a need for STI prevalence data that are more nationally representative and that can be used to monitor prevalence trends more reliably.
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Affiliation(s)
- L F Johnson
- Centre for Actuarial Research, 10 University Avenue, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
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Lai W, Chen CY, Morse SA, Htun Y, Fehler HG, Liu H, Ballard RC. Increasing relative prevalence of HSV-2 infection among men with genital ulcers from a mining community in South Africa. Sex Transm Infect 2003; 79:202-7. [PMID: 12794202 PMCID: PMC1744684 DOI: 10.1136/sti.79.3.202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To determine the aetiology of genital ulcer disease (GUD) and its association with HIV infection in the mining community of Carletonville, South Africa, from two cross sectional surveys of consecutive men presenting with genital lesions during October 1993 to January 1994 and July to November 1998. METHODS A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (M-PCR) assay combined with amplicon detection was used to identify DNA specific sequences of Treponema pallidum, herpes simplex virus (HSV), and Haemophilus ducreyi. A real time PCR assay was used to differentiate between HSV-1 and HSV-2. RESULTS M-PCR detected T pallidum, HSV, and H ducreyi in 10.3%, 17.2%, and 69.4% of 232 GUD patients during 1993-4 and in 12.4%, 36.0%, and 50.5% of 186 GUD patients in 1998. The proportion of patients with more than one agent increased significantly from 7.3% (17/232) in 1993-4 to 16.7% (31/186) in 1998 (p <0.01). HSV-2 was detected in a higher proportion of ulcer specimens from HIV infected patients than in specimens from HIV uninfected patients during both time periods (1993-4: 26.2% v 6.7%, p <0.001; 1998: 42.1% v 29.6%, p >0.09). CONCLUSIONS Based on two cross sectional surveys, 4 years apart, chancroid remained the leading cause of GUD in men who presented at the STD clinic with genital ulcers in the mining community of Carletonville, South Africa. The relative prevalence of primary syphilis has remained low. However, HSV-2 has emerged as a more significant cause of GUD and the proportion of GUD patients infected with more than one agent also increased significantly. HSV-2 DNA was detected in a significantly higher proportion of ulcer specimens from HIV positive patients than from HIV negative patients. No association was found between HIV infection status and the relative prevalence of chancroid or syphilis.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Lai
- Department of Dermatology, Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, P R China
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Pettifor AE, Beksinska ME, Rees HV, Mqoqi N, Dickson-Tettell KE. The acceptability of reuse of the female condom among urban South African women. J Urban Health 2001; 78:647-57. [PMID: 11796811 PMCID: PMC3455880 DOI: 10.1093/jurban/78.4.647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
This study assessed whether reuse of the female condom was acceptable among two groups of women in central Johannesburg, South Africa, who were taking part in two separate studies of female condom reuse. The first group consisted of women (aged 17 to 43 years) attending a family planning/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) clinic who were participating in a cross-sectional survey of the acceptability of female condoms reuse (n = 100). The second group included women (aged 18-40 years) at high risk for STI (80% self-declared sex workers) who were taking part in an ongoing cohort study to investigate the safety of reuse of the female condom through a structural integrity and microbial retention study (n = 50). Among women participating in the acceptability study, 83% said that they would be willing to reuse the female condom, and 91% thought the idea of reuse of the female condom was acceptable. All women taking part in the safety of reuse study and who reused the female condom up to seven times (n = 49) reported that the steps involved in reusing the device were easy to perform and acceptable. All 49 women said they would reuse the female condom at least once, while 45% said they would use it a maximum of seven or eight times. From the results of the interviews with both study groups, it can be concluded that, among women in a South African urban environment who have used a male and/or female condom, the concept of reuse of the female condom is acceptable and thought to be a good idea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audrey E. Pettifor
- Reproductive Health Research Unit at the University of California, Berkeley
- Reproductive Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Addington Hospital, PO 38084, 4069 Point, Durban South Africa
| | - Mags E. Beksinska
- Reproductive Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Addington Hospital, PO 38084, 4069 Point, Durban South Africa
| | - Helen V. Rees
- Reproductive Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Addington Hospital, PO 38084, 4069 Point, Durban South Africa
| | - Nokuzola Mqoqi
- Reproductive Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Addington Hospital, PO 38084, 4069 Point, Durban South Africa
| | - Kim E. Dickson-Tettell
- Reproductive Health Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Addington Hospital, PO 38084, 4069 Point, Durban South Africa
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