Gonorrhea and female infertility in rural Uganda.

We studied sociocultural and medical factors in the Teso District in eastern Uganda and the Ankole District in western Uganda to discover the cause of the low and high fertility rates in these respective districts. The findings related to gonorrhea in women are presented in this article. Gonococcal cervicitis and clinical evidence of salpingitis occurred significantly more frequently in Teso (18.3% and 19%, respectively) than in Ankole (2.4% and 5.9%) women. Significantly more of the husbands of the gonococcal-negative infertile women compared to gonococcal-negative fertile women were found to have active gonorrhea, a past history of urethral discharge, and bilaterally thickened epididymides.