Abstract

Introduction: STI constitute a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries. There is a proven role of these diseases in facilitating transmission of HIV, which in turn increases susceptibility to other infections including STIs .HIV and STI are linked in their similar mode of transmission and also the presence of STIs facilitate the acquisition and transmission of HIV infections. Objectives: The present study was conducted to identify the burden and any change in the trend of STI among attendees of a STI clinic of a tertiary care hospital in North India. Material and methods: This cross- sectional, retrospective study analysed data from consecutive STI patients over the age of 18 years with a present /past history of STI and exhibiting high risk behaviour during the last 4 years (Jan2011-Dec 2014). Result: A year wise increase in the number of STI patients was explicit during the last four years. Viral STIs are seen in increasing proportion of patients against a discernible back drop of decreasing bacterial STIs. Among the viral STIs herpes genitalis (65.25%) was the commonest followed by genital warts (61.95%) and genital molluscum contagiosum (60.75%); parasitic STIs were the least (2.3%). Coinfection with two pathogen was seen in 28.5%, while co-infection with three pathogen was seen in 16.48%. A bacterial pathogen with a fungus was seen in 16.8% and a fungal pathogen with a parasite in 0.83%. Conclusion: In conclusion, a definite change in trend in the profile of STI was observed with viral STIs constituting the major burden in STI clinic attendees, thereby increasing the susceptibility of an individual to acquire and transmit HIV through sexual contact.

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