Epidemiologia molecular de patógenos sexualmente transmissíveis em mulheres no município de Coari, Amazonas.

Abstract

The lack of precision and speed in the laboratory diagnosis of some sexually transmitted infections (STI) are commom problems faced by professionals working in this area. Additionally, the lack of some of them in the public health system become more difficult to elucidate the diagnosis. Because of these difficulties, the STI are underdiagnosed, being treated indiscriminately, using only clinical diagnosis. The molecular diagnostic methods have arisen in recent years as an excellent alternative to fill some of the gaps left by traditional methods. The aim of this research was to study the epidemiology of some sexually transmitted pathogens at molecular level, using molecular biology techniques in women attended in public health system in the city of Coari, Amazonas, Brazil. Samples were collected from 361 women for cervical cytology (Pap Smear) and molecular examination. We carried out molecular diagnosis using the technique of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and real-time PCR for some sexually transmitted pathogens, which were: Human Papillomavirus, Herpes Simplex Virus 2, Human Cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Thichomonas vaginalis. The results showed that 47.8% of these women were infected by any of the pathogens. There was a high prevalence of infection with Human Papilomavirus (29.1%), followed by T. vaginalis (12.7%), Human Cytomegalovirus (8.3%), C. trachomatis (6.4%), N. gonorrhoeae (1.4%) and Herpes Simplex Vírus 2 (0.6%). The prevalence of HPV type in the infected women was HPV 16 (58.1%), followed by HPV 58 (20.0%). The satisfactory slides for cytological diagnosis (n=321) showed that 7 women (2.1%) showed abnormal cytology (ASCUS, LSIL and HSIL), 5 of them being infected by HPV. There were no statistically significant associations between sexually transmitted infections and the variables related to socio-demographics, medical history and sexual behavior.