Genital Tract Infection Flashcards
What is the asymptomatic STI screening for a male?
- First void urine (must have held their urine for at least 1hr): chlamydia + gonorrhoea NAAT (nucleic acid test)
- Serology: HIV + syphilis (+hep B and C if indicated by risk)
What is the asymptomatic STI screening for a female?
- Vulvo-vaginal swab (self-taken/nurse) (can be endo-cervical if having an examination for another reason): chlamydia + gonorrhoea NAAT
- Serology: HIV + syphilis (+Hep B and C if indicated by risk)
What are the 3 main/common causes of urethral discharge?
- chlamydia
- gonorrhoea
- non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU)
Nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) is an inflammation of the urethra that is not caused by gonorrheal infection. For treatment purposes, doctors usually classify infectious urethritis in two categories: gonococcal urethritis, caused by gonorrhea, and nongonococcal urethritis (NGU).
What are the causes of NGU?
- chlamydia
- mycoplasma genitalium
- ureaplasma
- UTI
- trichomonas vaginalis
- candida
- herpes simplex virus
- human papilloma virus (warts)
- syphilis
- neisseria meningitides
- chemical irritation - alcohol, drug reactions
- urinary strones
- urethral foreign body or stricture
- phimosis
- trauma
How is urethral discharge investigated?
-
URETHRAL SWAB:
- microscopy → NSU (>5 polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMN)/high power field (x1000) averaged over 5 fields) + gonorrhoea (gram negative intracellular diplococci (seen within PMN cells))
- culture (chocolate agar) → gonorrhoea - confirm diagnosis + obtain antibiotic sensitivities
-
FIRST VOID URINE - chlamydia + gonorrhoea NAAT
- mycloplasma genitalium only if PMN on urethral slide confirming NGU
What is the treatment for NSU/NGU and also persistent NSU?
- NSU/NGU → doxycycline 100mg BD 1 week + any specific treatment if specific cause found eg. TV
-
Persistent NSU:
- 1st line → azithromycin 1g STAT then 500mg OD for 2 days (to cover mycoplasma genitalium) + metronidazole 400mg BD 5 days
- 2nd line → moxiflocacin 400mg OD for 10 days
- if MG positive → needs MG test-of-care in 4wks
What are the causes of vaginal discharge?
- chlamydia - thin, altered
- gonorrhoea - green/yellow
- trichomonas vaginalis - frothy green/grey, offensive
- mycoplasma genitalium
- candida - thick white, yeasty
- bacterial vaginosis - offensive fishy grey/colourless thin
- herpes simplex virus
- ureaplasma
- cervical ectopy
- physiological
- pregnancy
- group B beta haemolytic streptococcus
- actinomyces
- tuberculosis
- foreign body eg. tampon
- cervical/vaginal malignancy
What investigations should be done for vaginal discharge?
-
High vaginal swab (lateral vaginal walls)
- microscopy → candida (spores/hyphae), BV (clue cells)
- TV culture / NAAT
- other cultures if pregnant/symptoms persist/freq recur
- group B beta haemolytic strep
- actinomyces
- High vaginal swab (posterior fornix) → wet slide – dark ground microscopy – TV
-
Endocervical / vulvo-vaginal swabs:
- chlamydia + gonorrhoea NAAT
- mycoplasma genitalium if PID suspected
-
Endocervical swabs:
- gonorrhoea microscopy + culture if high risk/contact
- HSV swab → if clinical suspicion of genital herpes
What are differentials for vaginal discharge with a ‘fishy’ smell?
- bacterial vaginosis
- retained tampon
- trichomonas
What is the treatment for candida?
- clotrimazole cream topical BD to vulva 1 week
- AND clotrimazole pessary 500mg PV stat or 200mg pv 3 days
What are features and management of trichomonas vaginalis?
- common sexually transmitted infection
- flagellated protozoon
- incubation 1-3 weeks
- frothy green or grey discharge
- strawberry cervix
- Rx → metronidazole 400mg po bd for 5-7 days
What are the features and management of bacterial vaginosis?
- imbalance of vaginal flora rather than sexually transmitted infection
- no symptoms in male partner of affected woman
- may be triggered by vaginal douching or by sexual intercourse
- causes fishy smelling discharge w/ minimal or no itch
- replacement of normal acid-forming lactobacilli by large numbers of other organisms especially gardnerella vaginalis
- increases vaginal pH to >4.5
- “clue cells” on microscopy: vaginal epithelial cell coated w/ numerous bacteria
- typical swab report: “heavy growth of anaerobes”
- Rx → oral metronidazole or topical clindamycin cream
What are features + management of chlamydia?
- chlamydia trachomatis: obligate intracellular gram negative bacterium
- 1 in 10 young women
- incubation period 7-21 days
- 60% of cases = asymptomatic
- women → cervicitis (thin discharge, bleeding), dysuria
- men → urethral discharge, dysuria
- Ix → NAAT: first void urine, vulvovaginal swab or cervical swab
- Rx → doxycycline 100mg 7days OR (if preg/allergic) azithromycin 1g stat; test of cure at 6/52 if pregnant or rectal chlamydia
What are the complications of chlamydia?
- pelvic inflammatory disease
- ectopic pregnancy
- subfertility in men + women
- sexually acquired reactive arthritis / Reiter’s disease
- Fitz Hugh Curtis syndrome - perihepatitis, RUQ pain
- adult conjunctivits
- vertical transmission - neonatal conjunctivitis / pneumonitis
- epididymo-orchitis
- prostatitis
What needs to be done in regards to contact tracing, for chlamydia?
- pts diagnosed w/ chlamydia should be offered a choice of provider for initial partner notification - either trained practice nurses w/ support from GUM, or referral to GUM
- for men w/ urethral symptoms: all contacts since, and in the 4 weeks prior to, the onset of symptms
- for women + asymptomatic men all partners from last 6 months or the most recent sexual partner should be contacted
- contacts of confirmed chlamydia cases should be offered treatment prior to the results of their investigations being known (treat then test!)
What are the features of gonorrhoea?
- gram negative diplococcus neisseria gonorrhoeae
- acute infection can occur on any membrane surface (typically genitourinary, rectum + pharynx)
- incubation = 2-5days
- males → urethral discharge, dysuria
- females → cervicitis, discharge (green/yellow)
- rectal + pharyngeal infection usually asymptomatic
- immunisation not possible + reinfection common due to antigen variation of type IV pili and Opa proteins
- local complications → urethral strictures, epididymitis + salpingitis
What is the treatment for gonorrhoea?
- empirical treatment if diagnosed prior to culture → ceftriaxone 1mg IM stat
- if antimicrobial susceptibility results available prior to treatment + isolate sensitive to ciprofloxacin → give ciprofloxacin 500mg PO stat
- only consider epidemiological treatment if presenting within 14 days of exposure
- for those presenting after 14 days of exposure give treatment based on the results of testing
What are causes of testicular/scrotal pain?
- testicular torsion
- epididymo-orchidits/epididymitis
- hernia
- tense hydrocele
- testicular ischaemia/infarction
- abscess formation
- testicular or epididymal tumour
- mumps epididymo-orchitis