PREVALENCE OF HIV AMONG WOMEN WITH VAGINAL DISCHARGE: MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was carried out between April 2000 and August 2000 in the Cervical Cytology Clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. The clinic also takes care of patients from the gynecologic and family planning clinics who complain of vaginal discharge. The patients for the study were women in the reproductive age (15^9 years) that came to the clinic complaining of vaginal discharge. Pregnant women, postmenopausal women, and those with obvious benign or malignant lesions of the cervix were excluded from the study, which was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
Consecutive patients attending the clinic who complained of vaginal discharge were informed individually about the purpose of the study, and those who consented to participate were adequately counseled on HIV serotest. Adequate arrangements were made for those who tested positive to have further laboratory tests, counseling, and treatment at the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research. The institute provides antiretroviral drugs, which are heavily subsidized by the Federal Government of Nigeria at a very affordable price. online pharmacy without a prescription
Each of the participants was put in a dorsal position and after swabbing the vulva anterior-posterior-ly with a sterile, absorbent cotton wool swab, an unlubricated sterile Cuscos speculum was passed. A high vaginal swab (HVS) and endocervical swabs (ECS) were taken for microbiological studies. The appearance and the odor of the discharge were noted, and the pH was estimated using a litmus paper with pH range 4-10. Amine test was done by dropping two drops of 10% KOH on the discharge in the well of the blades of the Cusco’s speculum. The ECS was immediately plated on chocolate agar plate and incubated in C02 at 37°C for 24-48 hours.
Gram staining was quickly done on the specimen and examined for pus cells, yeast cells, and gram-negative intracellular organisms. The HVS was plated and cultured in blood agar and incubated aerobically at 37°C for 24-48 hours. A wet preparation was done for trichomonas vaginalis and gram staining for pus cells, yeast cells and aerobic organisms. Blood was taken for HIV serology, which was done at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos. HIV screening was by ELISA technique and confirmed by the Western blot technique. A questionnaire to collect information on age, marital status, parity, sexual partner, and occupation was applied to each patient. cialis canadian pharmacy
Data analysis was done using Epi Info version 6.04. Proportions were compared using the chi-square. A p value of<0.05 was considered significant.
