A self-administered technique for the detection of sexually transmitted diseases in remote communities

Abstract

The control of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in remote rural communities would be enhanced by a sensitive self-administered method for the detection of asymptomatic infection. Results of conventional methods for the detection of STDs were compared with results of tampon-collected specimens analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for 480 women. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Trichomonas vaginalis were detected by routine methods in 4 (1%), 14 (3%), and 41 (9%) samples, respectively, while PCR detected these organisms from 52 (11%), 26 (5%), and 75 (16%) tampons, respectively. The detection of each organism was significantly greater by PCR in tampon-collected samp..