STD CARE IN ZAMBIA - AN EVALUATION OF THE GUIDELINES FOR CASE-MANAGEMENT THROUGH A SYNDROMIC APPROACH

Citation
S. Hanson et al., STD CARE IN ZAMBIA - AN EVALUATION OF THE GUIDELINES FOR CASE-MANAGEMENT THROUGH A SYNDROMIC APPROACH, International journal of STD & AIDS, 7(5), 1996, pp. 324-332
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Immunology,"Infectious Diseases
ISSN journal
09564624
Volume
7
Issue
5
Year of publication
1996
Pages
324 - 332
Database
ISI
SICI code
0956-4624(1996)7:5<324:SCIZ-A>2.0.ZU;2-B
Abstract
Clinical diagnosis of STDs is unreliable and therefore constitutes a p oor basis for choice of treatment. A syndromic approach has been sugge sted to increase effectiveness of treatment in resource poor settings. Algorithms for the treatment of STD syndromes were evaluated. A total of 436 patients were followed; cure rates were defined and estimated for genital ulcer disease (GUD), urethral and vaginal discharge. Cure rates for the discharge syndromes were high, 97-98%, for both sexes. T he cure rate for GUD was 83% for female and 69% for male patients. A h igher prevalence of syphilis in the female study population probably c ontributed to this. It is likely that a large proportion of the treatm ent failures were due to decreased susceptibility of Haemophilus ducre yi to trimethoprim-sulpha. The determination of cure rates met with a number of methodological problems. This makes it difficult to evaluate the algorithms as part of routine activities, as suggested earlier by WHO.