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. 2025 Apr 17:15:100652.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2025.100652. eCollection 2025 Jun.

Sexually transmitted infections in women in a rural hospital in Sierra Leone: a retrospective database study

Emmanuel Marx Kanu  1   2 , Henning Rottmann  3 , Ioana D Olaru  3 , Tom Theiler  3 , Islam M Kargbo  1 , Hanna M Mathéron  1   2 , Laura C Kalkman  1   2 , Martin P Grobusch  1   2   4   5 , Frieder Schaumburg  1   3   5
Affiliations

Sexually transmitted infections in women in a rural hospital in Sierra Leone: a retrospective database study

Emmanuel Marx Kanu et al. IJID Reg. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the frequency of sexually transmitted infections among women of reproductive age in a rural hospital in Sierra Leone.

Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional database study included vaginal and endocervical swabs from 104 women of childbearing age (March 2023-March 2024) in Masanga Teaching Hospital, rural Sierra Leone. Samples were screened by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (eazyplex STD complete) for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis, Mycoplasma genitalium, and Treponema pallidum. Demographic and medical data were obtained from medical records.

Results: The median age was 26 years (range: 21-33 years). HIV status was available for 84 women, of whom nine (11%) were HIV-positive. Of the 75 women with clinical information available, 73 (97%) were symptomatic. Vaginal discharge (n = 66 of 75, 88%) was the most frequently reported symptom. Tests were positive for at least one target organism in the test panel in 54 of 104 cases (52%). M. hominis was most often detected (n = 47 of 104, 45%), followed by U. urealyticum (n = 18 of 104, 17%) and N. gonorrhoeae (n = 3 of 104, 3%), whereas C. trachomatis and T. pallidum were positive in one (1%) sample each. M. genitalium was not detected.

Conclusions: The detection of obligate sexually transmitted infections pathogens (i.e. C. trachomatis, N. gonorrhoeae, T. pallidum; n = 5 of 104, 5%) was rare in our study population and setting.

Keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis; LAMP assay; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Sexually transmitted diseases; Sierra Leone; Treponema pallidum.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interest to declare.

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