{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,25]],"date-time":"2026-02-25T17:30:37Z","timestamp":1772040637018,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]],"date-time":"2021-04-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619136000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"UNDP\/UNFPA\/UNICEF\/WHO\/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction"},{"name":"Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004423","name":"World Health Organization","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004423","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common during pregnancy and can result in adverse delivery and birth outcomes. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of STIs; <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/jats:italic> (CT), <jats:italic>Neisseria gonorrhoeae<\/jats:italic> (NG), <jats:italic>Treponema pallidum<\/jats:italic> (syphilis), <jats:italic>Trichomonas vaginalis<\/jats:italic> (trichomoniasis), and <jats:italic>Human Immunodeficiency Virus<\/jats:italic> (HIV) among pregnant women visiting an antenatal care center in Nepal.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We adapted and piloted the WHO standard protocol for conducting a prevalence survey of STIs among pregnant women visiting antenatal care center of Dhulikhel Hospital, Nepal. Patient recruitment, data collection, and specimen testing took place between November 2019-March 2020. First catch urine sample was collected from each eligible woman. GeneXpert platform was used for CT and NG testing. Wet-mount microscopy of urine sample was used for detection of trichomoniasis. Serological test for HIV was done by rapid and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests. Serological test for syphilis was done using \u201cnonspecific non-treponemal\u201d and \u201cspecific treponemal\u201d antibody tests. Tests for CT, NG and trichomoniasis were done as part of the prevalence study while tests for syphilis and HIV were done as part of the routine antenatal testing.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>672 women were approached to participate in the study, out of which 591 (87.9%) met the eligibility criteria and consented to participate. The overall prevalence of any STIs was 8.6% (51\/591, 95% CI: 6.3\u201310.8); 1.5% (95% CI: 0.5\u20132.5) for CT and 7.1% (95% CI: 5.0\u20139.2) for trichomoniasis infection. None of the samples tested positive for NG, HIV or syphilis. Prevalence of any STI was not significantly different among women, age <jats:underline>\u2264<\/jats:underline> 24 years (10%, 25\/229) compared to women age <jats:underline>\u2265<\/jats:underline>25 years (7.1%, 26\/362) (p = 0.08).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The prevalence of trichomoniasis among pregnant women in this sub-urban population of Nepal was high compared to few cases of CT and no cases of NG, syphilis, and HIV. The WHO standard protocol provided a valuable framework for conducting STI surveillance that can be adapted for other countries and populations.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0250361","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]],"date-time":"2021-04-23T17:54:21Z","timestamp":1619200461000},"page":"e0250361","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Prevalence assessment of sexually transmitted infections among pregnant women visiting an antenatal care center of Nepal: Pilot of the World Health Organization\u2019s standard protocol for conducting STI prevalence surveys among pregnant women"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1853-9728","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rubee","family":"Dev","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shambhu P.","family":"Adhikari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anjana","family":"Dongol","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Surendra K.","family":"Madhup","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pooja","family":"Pradhan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sunila","family":"Shakya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shrinkhala","family":"Shrestha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sneha","family":"Maskey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Melanie M.","family":"Taylor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,23]]},"reference":[{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0250361.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"548","DOI":"10.2471\/BLT.18.228486","article-title":"Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and syphilis: global prevalence and incidence estimates, 2016","volume":"97","author":"J Rowley","year":"2019","journal-title":"Bull World Health Orga"},{"issue":"Suppl 6","key":"pone.0250361.ref002","first-page":"e25343","article-title":"Diagnosing sexually transmitted infections in resource\u2010constrained settings: challenges and ways forward","volume":"22","author":"TEC Wi","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Int AIDS Soc"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0250361.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"673","DOI":"10.1097\/OLQ.0000000000000832","article-title":"Acceptability and feasibility of rapid chlamydial, gonococcal, and trichomonal screening and treatment in pregnant women in six low-to-middle income countries","volume":"45","author":"CL Shannon","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sex Transm Dis"},{"key":"pone.0250361.ref004","unstructured":"Ghanem KG, Susan T. Screening for sexually transmitted infections. [Cited 2020 May 11]. 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WHO tool for STI Surveillance Strengthening. [Cited 2020 Feb 17]. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/reproductivehealth\/publications\/rtis\/sti-surveillance\/en\/."},{"key":"pone.0250361.ref010","unstructured":"World Health Organization. WHO Standard Protocol to assess prevalence of GC and CT in pregnant women. [Cited 2020 May 10]. 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