Prevalence of Chlamydia infection among asymptomatic female commercial sex workers in the Kumasi Metropolis
Loading...
Date
2005-11-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Using a Rapid Chlamydia test known as the QuickVue Chlamydia test, the prevalence of Chlamydia infection among 100 asymptomatic female commercial sex-workers was studied at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). The symptomatic non-sex workers reporting for STI at the same hospital 50 of them were also screened as a control group. The study was conducted from January to April 2005 with the age of the women ranging from 18—35 years.
Two-endocervical swabs were collected from each participant, one was used for the Quickvue Chlamydia test and the other one was used for smear preparation and Gram staining. Culture on Thayer Martin’s medium was also carried out, so as to establish any gonococcal infection. With the aid of a standard questionnaire, data on the age, marital status, educational background and profession of the participants were collected.
For the 100 asymptomatic female commercial sex workers screened, there were 19 positive cases giving a prevalence of 19.0% (19/100). In this group one gonococcal case was detected. Of the 50 symptomatic female non-sex workers screened, 4 were positive to Chlamydia infection given a prevalence of 8.0% (4/50) and no gonococcal case was detected. All the positive cases were within the age groups 20-3 0.
The outcome of the screening shows that those who are more at risk are the sex workers and the sexually active age group. It is therefore important for health personnel to educate them on the risk of acquiring STIs and the need to go for counseling and screening regularly.
Description
A
Thesis Submitted to the Department of Clinical Microbiology, College of Allied health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi in
partial fulfillment of the requirement of the award of Master of Science degree in Clinical Microbiology, 2005