Open AccessDiagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections in male partners of pregnant women in Brazil
Author(s) -
Nava Yeganeh,
Régis Kreitchmann,
Mei Leng,
Karin NielsenSaines,
Pamina M. Gorbach,
Jeffrey D. Klausner
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of std and aids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.673
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1758-1052
pISSN - 0956-4624
DOI - 10.1177/09564624211032759
Subject(s) - medicine , chlamydia trachomatis , syphilis , trichomonas vaginalis , neisseria gonorrhoeae , obstetrics , gonorrhea , chlamydia , sexually transmitted disease , gynecology , cohort , pregnancy , condom , prenatal care , reproductive health , population , pediatrics , family medicine , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , immunology , genetics , biology , environmental health , microbiology and biotechnology
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can adversely affect a woman's pregnancy and the health of the developing fetus. The source of these infections may be the male sexual partner who remains under-diagnosed and un-treated due to a combination of lack of symptoms, decreased access to health care, and poor health-seeking behaviors. From September 2018 to November 2019, we offered a cohort of pregnant women (gestational age range: 4.6-41 weeks) clinic-based STI testing for HIV and syphilis (via lateral flow assay rapid tests) and for Neisseria (N.) gonorrhoeae , Chlamydia (C.) trachomatis , and Trichomonas (T.) vaginalis (via PCR-based testing) at Santa Casa Hospital and 10 affiliated prenatal clinics in Porto Alegre, Brazil. 400 women between the ages of 18 and 46 years (mean age: 27 years) enrolled and 24% were diagnosed with an STI. Each woman enrolled agreed to invite their male partners to clinic for the same panel of STI testing, and 255 men (64%) between the ages of 18 and 64 years (mean age: 29 years) attended clinic and all accepted full intervention. In these male partners, 40 (16%) were diagnosed with an STI including 22 (8.7%) testing positive for C. trachomatis , 15 (6%) for treponemal antibody (syphilis), 7 (2.8%) for T. vaginalis , 3 (1.2%) for N. gonorrhoeae , and 1 (0.4%) for HIV antibody. In our multivariate analysis, having symptoms of an STI (AOR 4.5, 95% CI 1.3-15.2) and arguing about jealousy (AOR 3.1, 95% CI 1.2-8.2) remained significantly associated with male diagnosis of an STI. Sexually transmitted infections are common in sexual partners of pregnant women in Brazil and should be addressed to prevent reinfection of pregnant women.