Comparison of syndromic versus laboratory-confirmed diagnosis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Treponema pallidum, infections at the selected health centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are major infectious diseases worldwide. Around one million people get STIs every day and among them a high burden of the diseases seen in Sub-Saharan African countries. In most developing countries, including Ethiopia, STIs are diagnosed only using syndromic methods, although there seems to be no consensus between syndromic and laboratory-based research. Objective To compare the effectiveness of a syndromic versus laboratory-based approach in the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections, especially Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Treponema palladium (TP), infections among those attending a public health center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods a cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2019 to March 2020, at selected health centers STIs clinics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A total of 325 study participants were involved. From each participant after having socio-demographic data, additional blood, urethral and vaginal discharge was collected. Then serological, Gram stain, culture, and biochemical tests were performed. SPSS version 23 was used to enter and analyze data. All relevant bodies provided ethical approval, and each study participant gave written informed consent. Results Among the total participants 167 (51.4%) were males; 177 (54.5%) between ages of 26 and 35; and 178(54.8%) single. Of the total 325 NG, and 125 TP syndromic managed suspected cases, only 163 (50%) and 38 (30.4%) were laboratory- confirmed positive cases respectively. However, there was no statistically significant difference between NG and TP syndromic versus laboratory diagnostic confirmed cases (P-value > 0.005). Conclusion The present study indicated that even if, there were no statistical differences between syndromic versus Laboratory diagnosis confirmed NG and TP cases, more than half of syndromic cases could not be confirmed by laboratory diagnosed tests. Thus, to strengthen the present findings, further large-scale studies are recommended.

Neisseria gonorrhea in Ethiopia, prevalence among STI suspected patients and its antimicrobial susceptibility: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Ultimately, 10 articles were included to evaluate the prevalence of N. gonorrhea among suspected STI patients in Ethiopia. All the included studies adopted a cross-sectional study design, with three of them specifically conducted in the Amhara region ( Tibebu et al, 2013 ; Mulu et al, 2015 ; Geremew et al, 2017 ; Yeshanew and Geremew, 2018 ), one in Oromia ( Sahile et al, 2020 ), two in SNNPR ( Hailemariam et al, 2013 ; Tadele et al, 2019 ; Zenebe et al, 2021 ), two in Addis Ababa ( Fentaw et al, 2020 ; Ayalew et al, 2022 ), one in Gambella ( Ali et al, 2016 ) and one in Tigray ( Kahsay et al, 2023 ). The prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant N. gonorrhea for specific antibacterial agents was reported in nine studies.…”