The prevalence of sexually transmitted pathogens in patients presenting toa Casablanca STD clinic

The objective of this study conducted at the sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic of the Pasteur Institute of Morocco (SCPIM) is to describe cli nical complaints and biological findings in patients attending this facilit y. Two thousand two hundred sixty-four patients had visited the STD clinic from 1992 to 1996. The main reported symptom was genital discharge for men (44.5%) and women (68.6%). Genital eruption and ulcer were more frequent in men. The principal biological result shows a seroprevalence of 0.62% for h uman immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 3.05% for hepatitis B virus (HBV), 51.5% for chlamydiae and 13.2% for syphilis. Factors associated with clinical fi ndings were age and Gonococcus for men (odds ratio (OR): 1.94 and 5.96, res pectively) and Trichomonas and positive TPHA for women (OR: 9.49 and 0.25, respectively). This work describes for the first time the distribution of v arious germs involved in sexually transmitted diseases in Moroccan populati on and underlines the importance of studying its sexual behavior as well as determinants of STD incidence.