PREVALENCE OF HIV AMONG WOMEN WITH VAGINAL DISCHARGE
INTRODUCTION
Vaginal discharge, which may be physiological or pathological, is a common gynecologic complaint worldwide. Vaginal discharge may also be a symptom or sign a serious disease of the genital tract. In Lagos, Nigeria, it is the most common presenting complaint in gynecological and antenatal clinics. It is also the most common presenting symptom in females with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Nigeria. Numerous epidemiologic and biologic studies have shown that STDs, whether ulcerative or nonulcerative, may be associated with increased HIV acquisition and transmission. People who have sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are two-to-five times more likely to become infected with HIV Some of the possible mechanisms responsible for this include: 1) STD pathogens could disrupt the mucosal tissues and/or increase the number of cells receptive to HIV-1 and/or increase the number of receptors expressed per cell; 2) endocervical inflammation caused by nonulcerative STDs increases shedding of HIV infected cells, and this probably increases infectivi-ty; 3) nonulcerative STDs may facilitate HIV acquisition by increasing CD4 lymphocytes and interleukin (IL)-IO in the endocervix. In vitro studies have shown that CD4 lymphocyte molecule and chemokines are necessary to permit HIV-1 entry into host cells. Chemokines could also be expected to increase replication of HIV-1 and/or increase the number of HIV receptive cells. The high prevalence of vaginal discharge, a high proportion of which is due to STDs among attendees of gynecological clinics in Nigeria, calls for more studies on this subject. Given the association between STDs and HIV and the alarming rise in the prevalence of HIV in Nigeria, we performed this study to determine the prevalence of HIV in patients with vaginal discharge. We hypothesized that the prevalence of HIV among patients with vaginal discharge in Lagos state was higher than the state’s overall HIV prevalence rate of 6.7%. canada pharmacy mall
