OBJECTIVES To review studies of sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence in South Africa between 1985 and 2003 in selected sentinel populations. To examine how STI prevalence varies between populations and to identify the limitations of the existing data. METHODS Studies of the prevalence of syphilis, chancroid, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, tric...

OBJECTIVE To study the microbial aetiology of genital ulcer disease (GUD) in men. DESIGN Microbiological and clinical assessment of genital ulcers in men. SETTING City Health sexually transmitted diseases clinic, King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban, South Africa. PARTICIPANTS 100 Zulu men with genital ulcers who had not received antibiotics in the previous four weeks. RESULTS Syphilis was...

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 395 patients presenting with genital ulcers at a primary health care centre in Kigali, Rwanda. Using clinical data and the results of a rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test, we simulated the diagnostic outcome of two simple WHO flowcharts for the management of genital ulcers. These outcomes and a clinical diagnosis were then compared with the laboratory dia...

Objectives: To review studies of sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence in South Africa between 1985 and 2003 in selected sentinel populations. To examine how STI prevalence varies between populations and to identify the limitations of the existing data. Methods: Studies of the prevalence of syphilis, chancroid, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, tric...

Haemophilus ducreyi is the etiologic agent of the sexually transmitted genital ulcer disease chancroid. In both natural and experimental chancroid, H. ducreyi colocalizes with fibrin at the base of the ulcer. Fibrin is obtained by cleavage of the serum glycoprotein fibrinogen (Fg) by thrombin to initiate formation of the blood clot. Fg binding proteins are critical virulence factors in medicall...

OBJECTIVE To study the microbial aetiology of genital ulcer disease (GUD) in women. DESIGN Microbial and clinical assessment of genital ulcers in women. SETTING City Health sexually transmitted diseases clinic, King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban, South Africa. PARTICIPANTS 100 Zulu women with genital ulceration who had not received antibiotics in the previous two weeks. RESULTS Syphilis ...

BACKGROUND Haemophilus ducreyi is the bacterium responsible for the genital ulcer disease chancroid, a cofactor for the transmission of HIV, and it is resistant to many antibiotics. With the goal of exploring possible alternative treatments, we tested essential oils (EOs) for their efficacy as antimicrobial agents against H. ducreyi. METHODS We determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (...

Haemophilus ducreyi, the causative agent of chancroid, produces a hemolysin, whose role in virulence is not well defined. To assess the possible role of hemolysin in pathogenesis, we evaluated its target cell range by using wild-type H. ducreyi 35000, nonhemolytic mutants with the hemolysin structural gene deleted, and isogenic strains expressing different amounts of hemolytic activity. The cyt...

Haemophilus ducreyi, the etiologic agent of chancroid, has been shown to form microcolonies when cultured in the presence of human foreskin fibroblasts. We identified a 15-gene cluster in H. ducreyi that encoded predicted protein products with significant homology to those encoded by the tad (for tight adhesion) locus in Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans that is involved in the production of...

For many years venereal diseases have been a major problem in Greenland. Since the early 1950s gonorrhoea has been widely prevalent; in the middle of the 1960s the incidence increased rapidly. Since the early 1970s syphilis has become widespread in the population, and in 1977 an epidemic of chancroid occurred. The high figures for venereal diseases are basically due to the social change towards...