ODIGIE, Bolaji Efosa
University of Benin, Nigeria
Title: Cytopathology and Epidemiology of Cervicitis in Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs) in Enugu, Nigeria
Biography
Biography: ODIGIE, Bolaji Efosa
Abstract
Illicit sexual behavior by commercial sex workers (CSW) may have a disproportionate impact on the reproductive health of a woman that often leads to cervicitis. This study aimed at examining the cytopathology, patterns, prevalence and burden of cervicitis in CSWs in Enugu metropolis, Nigeria. Cervical smears are collected from the endocervix of about one hundred and eighteen (n=118) CSWs between August 2014 and February 2015 using the liquid-based cytology (LBC) method, including smear preparation. Stained smears are by the modified Emergency Papanicolaou method. The leftover samples are tested for sexually transmitted diseases, especially N. gonorrhea, and C. trachomatis using ligase chain reaction and nucleic acid amplification test. The randomized sampling design is used for data collection. Cytopathology of cervicitis in CSWs showed a moderate infection, and moderately severe to chronic inflammatory cells. The epidemiology revealed that acute cervicitis are predominant 7(5.9%) and 2(1.7%) are chronic cervicitis. The prevalence of CSWs living with cervicitis in Enugu, Nigeria (7.6%), is significantly affected by age and working duration as CSWs. Chlamydia trachomatis is the solely associated pathogen implicated in cervicitis group (n=9). Candidiasis infection (n=12) and T. vaginalis (n=3) are observed in the non-cervicitis group (n=109) while the association between C. trachomatis and cervicitis infection is statistically significant (P= 0.0221). There is a preponderance of acute cervicitis to chronic (4:1) while C. trachomatis infection is the prevalent etiologic agent of cervicitis in this study. However, further molecular study of LBC samples obtained from CSWs by real-time PCR is strongly recommended.