Aetiology of vaginal discharge, urethral discharge, and genital ulcer in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-regression.

Autor: Michalow J; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom., Walters MK; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom., Edun O; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom., Wybrant M; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom., Davies B; MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom., Kufa T; Centre for HIV & STI, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa., Mathega T; Centre for HIV & STI, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa., Chabata ST; Centre for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research (CeSHHAR), Harare, Zimbabwe., Cowan FM; Centre for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research (CeSHHAR), Harare, Zimbabwe.; Department of International Public Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom., Cori A; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom., Boily MC; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom., Imai-Eaton JW; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.; Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PLoS medicine [PLoS Med] 2024 May 20; Vol. 21 (5), pp. e1004385. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 20 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004385
Abstrakt: Background: Syndromic management is widely used to treat symptomatic sexually transmitted infections in settings without aetiologic diagnostics. However, underlying aetiologies and consequent treatment suitability are uncertain without regular assessment. This systematic review estimated the distribution, trends, and determinants of aetiologies for vaginal discharge, urethral discharge, and genital ulcer in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Methods and Findings: We searched Embase, MEDLINE, Global Health, Web of Science, and grey literature from inception until December 20, 2023, for observational studies reporting aetiologic diagnoses among symptomatic populations in SSA. We adjusted observations for diagnostic test performance, used generalised linear mixed-effects meta-regressions to generate estimates, and critically appraised studies using an adapted Joanna Briggs Institute checklist. Of 4,418 identified records, 206 reports were included from 190 studies in 32 countries conducted between 1969 and 2022. In 2015, estimated primary aetiologies for vaginal discharge were candidiasis (69.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 44.3% to 86.6%], n = 50), bacterial vaginosis (50.0% [95% CI: 32.3% to 67.8%], n = 39), chlamydia (16.2% [95% CI: 8.6% to 28.5%], n = 50), and trichomoniasis (12.9% [95% CI: 7.7% to 20.7%], n = 80); for urethral discharge were gonorrhoea (77.1% [95% CI: 68.1% to 84.1%], n = 68) and chlamydia (21.9% [95% CI: 15.4% to 30.3%], n = 48); and for genital ulcer were herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) (48.3% [95% CI: 32.9% to 64.1%], n = 47) and syphilis (9.3% [95% CI: 6.4% to 13.4%], n = 117). Temporal variation was substantial, particularly for genital ulcer where HSV-2 replaced chancroid as the primary cause. Aetiologic distributions for each symptom were largely the same across regions and population strata, despite HIV status and age being significantly associated with several infection diagnoses. Limitations of the review include the absence of studies in 16 of 48 SSA countries, substantial heterogeneity in study observations, and impeded assessment of this variability due to incomplete or inconsistent reporting across studies.
Conclusions: In our study, syndrome aetiologies in SSA aligned with World Health Organization guidelines without strong evidence of geographic or demographic variation, supporting broad guideline applicability. Temporal changes underscore the importance of regular aetiologic re-assessment for effective syndromic management.
Prospero Number: CRD42022348045.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Michalow et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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