HIGH OCCURRENCE OF HBV AMONG STD CLINIC ATTENDERS IN BOMBAY, INDIA

The pattern of sexually transmitted disease (STD) is the basis for des igning surveillance of specific STD, their trends and syndromic manage ment protocols. Two hundred and fifteen consecutive first-time STD cli nic attenders at a teaching hospital in Bombay were recruited for the study in October 1995. Thorough clinical examination and the following investigations were done: wet mount, Gram stain, Giemsa stain, modifi ed Thayer-Martin (MTM) medium culture, Fontana stain, Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL), Treponema pallidium haemagglutination tes t (TPHA), HBsAg and HIV. Ulcerative STD constituted 73.5% of total STD while 15.8% were discharges and 10.2% were genital growths. Ulcers in decreasing order of frequency were chancroid (51.9%), genital herpes (29.1%) and syphilis (14.5). 76.5% of genital discharges were due to g onococcal infection. The high rate of ulcerative STD is possibly an im portant co-factor for the high HIV prevalence of 31.2% in Bombay. Of 1 82 patients tested for HBV, 16 (8.8%) were reactive for HBsAg, reveali ng a high prevalence among STD attenders. A high co-relation of HBsAg positive with either HIV or VDRL requires urgent attention for HBV int ervention strategies in this population.