A Retrospective Study of the Pattern of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Males: Viral Infections in Emerging Trend.

Introduction: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to be a major public health problem with significant burden on the society even after so many health care programmes being organized by the governmental and non-governmental organizations and awareness created among general public about STIs. Male patients are common visitors to STI clinic than females who are generally traced as a contact in our society.

Aim: The aim of this study was to give an overview of the pattern of STIs among males at a tertiary care teaching hospital over a period of 5 years.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective chart review of the data collected from the clinical records of all male patients, who had attended the STI clinic of Chengalpattu Medical College Hospital, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, for various complaints during the 5 year period from 2010 to 2014 was carried out. All male patients with confirmed STIs were included in the study and those patients without any evidence of STIs either clinically or serologically were excluded from the study.

Results: Out of the 4454 male cases who had attended the STI clinic, 175 (3.93%) patients had STIs. Genital wart accounted for the maximum number among the STIs with 61 cases (34.86%), followed by genital herpes 56 (32%), urethral discharge 19(10.86%), non-herpetic genital ulcerative diseases 17(9.71%) and serological test for syphilis (RPR) was reactive in 22 (12.57%) patients. HIV was positive in 68 (1.53%) among the total 4454 male patients attended the clinic.

Conclusion: Viral STIs occur significantly more than the bacterial STIs because of its incurable and recurrent nature. Health programmes should be still more focused on creating awareness about the minor STIs and to remove the stigma so that the patients attend the proper health care facilities in the early stage itself for treatment thereby, complications and further transmission of the STIs can be avoided.