A retrospective study of the pattern of sexually transmitted diseases during a ten-year period.

BACKGROUND

Proper knowledge of the patterns of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in different geographical regions is necessary for evolving proper strategies for control of these diseases.

AIMS

To study the pattern of STDs and to analyze the changes during a ten-year period from 1990 among patients attending Medical College Hospital, Kottayam.

METHODS

Case records of 686 patients with STDs who attended the outpatient wing of the Department of Dermatology and Venereology were studied.

RESULTS

There were 504 males and 182 females in the total of 686 patients. Marital contact alone was reported by 123 (67.6%) female patients. Genital ulcer diseases (GUDs) accounted for the maximum number of STDs, with 504 cases (73.5%), followed by condyloma acuminatum (17.5%) and gonorrhea (10.1%). Forty-three patients had multiple infections. The total number of patients during the first year of study was 129, while it was 41 during the last year. Bacterial STDs showed a striking reduction in numbers. The decline was less marked in the case of viral STDs.

CONCLUSION

The majority of patients had genital ulcer diseases. Spouses were the most common source of infection for female patients. There was a marked decline in the number of patients with various STDs during the ten-year period. The decline was more evident in the bacterial STDs resulting in an apparent increase of the viral STDs towards the end of the period of study.