Sa. Hamdi et Ma. Ibrahim, SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED DISEASES IN DOMESTIC EXPATRIATE WORKERS IN JEDDAH, SAUDI-ARABIA, Annals of saudi medicine, 17(1), 1997, pp. 29-31
This study was conducted to determine the sexually transmitted disease
s in domestic expatriate workers (DEWs) screened for pre-employment in
the general clinics of a teaching hospital. The study included 1648 d
omestic expatriate workers who were reviewed by a general practitioner
, and who underwent serological tests for treponemal infections and hu
man immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Screening for hepatitis B surface an
tigen (HBsAg) was also done routinely as part of the requirement of th
e pre-employment screening. The relative frequencies for syphilis and
HIV were 23.8% and 19% respectively. HIV was detected more frequently
in DEWs from Africa, and syphilis in DEWs from Indonesia and the Phili
ppines, whereas HGsAg was more frequently detected in DEWs from the Af
rican subcontinent, and was significant among males (2.8%), compared t
o females (1.0%), where P<0.05. These findings indicate that pre-emplo
yment screening is a viable means of identifying major STDs (venereal
syphilis, HIV) and communicable diseases such as hepatitis B in the DE
Ws. It is recommended that stringent measures be adopted to prevent fr
audulent reporting from laboratories and health care providers locally
, and from the home country of the DEW.