P3.140 High prevalence of asymptomatic sexually transmitted infections among hiv-infected pregnant women in south africa

Introduction: Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoea (NG) and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) are major contributors to the global burden of disease. During pregnancy, these Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) may lead to complications including intrauterine death and preterm delivery, and may facilitate mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) of HIV. Treatment of these infections is suboptimal due to the syndromic approach to diagnosis and management. We conducted an analysis to determine the prevalence of CT, NG and TV among HIV infected pregnant women and prevalence of symptoms among those infected. Methods HIV-infected pregnant women accessing antenatal care (ANC) services for the first time for their current pregnancy were invited to take part in the study. Participants were interviewed using a questionnaire and asked to self-collect two vaginal swab specimens to test for CT, NG and TV. Tests were done by nurses in the clinic using the Xpert CT/NG and Xpert TV [Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA]. Results Overall 192 women were tested for CT, NG and TV, of whom 52.1% (100/192) were had at least one infection. CT had the highest prevalence (40.6%), followed by TV (26.6%), while NG had the lowest prevalence (7.3%). Based on self-reported symptoms, 78% of infected individuals were asymptomatic; 68% were asymptomatic when using clinician-observed symptoms. Using a combination of both, 58% were asymptomatic. Individuals infected with NG were most likely to be symptomatic (73.3%), followed by TV (51.9%), then CT (43.1%) using self-report and clinician observation. Conclusion This analysis shows that HIV-infected pregnant women have a high burden of three curable STIs that are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and may have links to HIV MTCT. Most infected women were asymptomatic when using either symptom self-reporting or clinician observation or a combination of both, highlighting the limitations of the symptoms-based approach to STI diagnosis. Therefore, the use of definitive POC tests for routine STI screening must be considered in this setting.