A retrospective analysis of sexually transmitted infections among males presenting to a tertiary care hospital of India

CONTEXT: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one of the most neglected diseases, leading to a high percentage of morbidity and mortality in India. The World Health Organization estimated that 20% of persons living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome are in their 20s and one out of twenty adolescents contract an STI each year. AIMS: The present study was conducted to study the characteristics of the pattern of STI in adult males and study the prevalence of various STIs among them. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This retrospective study was conducted by retrieving records of males presenting to STI laboratory of our tertiary care hospital between (April 2018 and December 2019). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The patients comprised high-risk group males, approached through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and slum population visiting the dispensary attached to our institute. The age group of the patient included was between 0 and 85 years. RESULTS: A total of 1023 males presented to our STI laboratory out of which 124 (12.12%) were symptomatic. The most common complaint was urethral irritation seen in 22.5%, followed by discharge in 9.6%. The most common sexually transmitted disease among symptomatic (34/124) as well as asymptomatic (172/899) men was syphilis showing a combined prevalence of 20% (206/1023). Out of 124 symptomatic patients, 29 (23.38%) complained of urethritis due to gonococcal infection. The association between the two was found to be significant (i.e., P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: STIs are a serious health problem in our country. Approximately 6% of the adult population have one or the other STI amounting to 30–35 million cases per year. An intensive study is the need of the hour which could help clinicians as well as microbiologists to control the spread of these infections.