1. Etiology of genital ulcers and prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in 10 US cities. The Genital Ulcer Disease Surveillance Group.
- Author
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Mertz KJ, Trees D, Levine WC, Lewis JS, Litchfield B, Pettus KS, Morse SA, St Louis ME, Weiss JB, Schwebke J, Dickes J, Kee R, Reynolds J, Hutcheson D, Green D, Dyer I, Richwald GA, Novotny J, Weisfuse I, Goldberg M, O'Donnell JA, and Knaup R
- Subjects
- Female, Genital Diseases, Female epidemiology, Genital Diseases, Female microbiology, Genital Diseases, Male epidemiology, Genital Diseases, Male microbiology, HIV Antibodies blood, Haemophilus ducreyi isolation & purification, Humans, Male, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Prevalence, Sexually Transmitted Diseases epidemiology, Sexually Transmitted Diseases microbiology, Simplexvirus isolation & purification, Treponema pallidum isolation & purification, Ulcer epidemiology, Ulcer microbiology, United States epidemiology, Genital Diseases, Female complications, Genital Diseases, Male complications, HIV Infections complications, HIV Infections epidemiology, HIV Seroprevalence, Sexually Transmitted Diseases complications, Ulcer complications, Urban Population
- Abstract
To determine the etiology of genital ulcers and to assess the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in ulcer patients in 10 US cities, ulcer and serum specimens were collected from approximately 50 ulcer patients at a sexually transmitted disease clinic in each city. Ulcer specimens were tested using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay to detect Haemophilus ducreyi, Treponema pallidum, and herpes simplex virus (HSV); sera were tested for antibody to HIV. H. ducreyi was detected in ulcer specimens from patients in Memphis (20% of specimens) and Chicago (12%). T. pallidum was detected in ulcer specimens from every city except Los Angeles (median, 9% of specimens; range, 0%-46%). HSV was detected in >/=50% of specimens from all cities except Memphis (42%). HIV seroprevalence in ulcer patients was 6% (range by city, 0%-18%). These data suggest that chancroid is prevalent in some US cities and that persons with genital ulcers should be a focus of HIV prevention activities.
- Published
- 1998
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