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. 2025 Mar 29;17(4):498.
doi: 10.3390/v17040498.

Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Cisgender Women Coming to a Walk-In Center

Gaia Catalano  1 , Tommaso Clemente  2 , Sara Diotallevi  2 , Riccardo Lolatto  2 , Benedetta Trentacapilli  1 , Martina Ranzenigo  2 , Elena Bruzzesi  1   2 , Paola Cinque  1   3 , Antonella Castagna  1   2 , Silvia Nozza  1   2
Affiliations

Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Cisgender Women Coming to a Walk-In Center

Gaia Catalano et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

The general female population is not considered a high-risk group for screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This retrospective study describes the prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Treponema pallidum (T. pallidum), Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N. gonorrhoeae), Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis), Mycoplasma spp., Ureaplasma spp., genital Herpes simplex virus (HSV), Monkeypox (mpox), Hepatitis B virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in asymptomatic and symptomatic cisgender women attending our walk-in STI clinic for the first time. Furthermore, it analyzes the number of individuals who returned for follow-up and were diagnosed with new STIs. Over 20 months, 189 women with a median age of 28.4 years were screened [129 (68.3%) asymptomatic and 60 (31.8%) symptomatic]. In order of prevalence, the most common STIs were: Ureaplasma spp. infections (50.3%), C. trachomatis (10.6%), N. gonorrhoeae (5.8%), Mycoplasma hominis infections (5.8%), T. pallidum (2.65%), HSV2 infections (2.65%), and mpox (0.53%). No diagnosis of HIV, trichomoniasis, HBV, or HCV was registered. After the initial evaluation, 128 (67.7%) women returned for follow-up, but only 43 (22.8%) repeated screening; among them, 11 (25.6%) were diagnosed with new STIs. Given the high prevalence of STIs in cisgender women, awareness measures to improve screening and prevention strategies in this neglected population are required.

Keywords: HIV; STIs; hepatitis; prevention; sexual health; women’s health.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare no competing interests related to this work. G.C. has no competing interests related to this work. T.C. has received personal fees for speaker panels from Gilead Sciences. S.D. has no competing interests related to this work. R.L has no competing interests related to this work. B.T. has no competing interests related to this work. M.R. has received personal fees for speaker panels from Tillots Pharma. E.B. has received personal fees for speaker panels from Gilead Sciences. P.C. has no competing interests related to this work. A.C. has received personal fees for advisory boards, speaker panels, and educational materials from Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Sharp & Dohme, and Theratechnologies. S.N. has received personal fees for advisory boards from Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare, for speaker panels from Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare, and Merck Sharp & Dohme, for meeting attendance from Gilead Sciences and Pfizer, and payments to her institution for consultancies from Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
STIs screening flowchart for women coming to the San Raffaele walk-in center. * Performed only in the presence of suggestive lesions; # According to vaccination status.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Type of symptoms reported at baseline. # More than one symptom may have been reported by the same woman.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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