{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:17:45Z","timestamp":1785421065843,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,27]],"date-time":"2024-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1732665600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background:\u00a0Health care for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is often inadequate, especially for women, because of the asymptomatic nature of many STIs, which can lead to a false sense of health. Thus, there is limited data on the prevalence of STIs in pregnant women in low and middle-income countries.\n\nObjectives:\u00a0The study aimed to determine the prevalence of STIs in asymptomatic pregnant women attending antenatal Rethabile Community Health Centre, Limpopo, South Africa.\n\nMethod:\u00a0A cross-sectional analysis of asymptomatic pregnant women at Rethabile Community Health Centre between March 2023 and November 2023 was conducted to determine the prevalence of seven STIs, detected from self-collected vaginal swab specimens using HAIN fluoroType STI-multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test for nine targets covering seven major STIs.\n\nResults:\u00a0The study found that\u00a0Ureaplasma urealyticum\u00a0was the most prevalent pathogen (43%) followed by\u00a0Chlamydia trachomatis\u00a0(41%), and\u00a0Trichomonas vaginalis\u00a0(10%). The less common pathogens detected were\u00a0Mycoplasma Genitalium\u00a0(5%) and\u00a0Neisseria gonorrhoeae\u00a0(2%).\n\nConclusion:\u00a0High STI prevalence among asymptomatic pregnant women at Rethabile Community Health Centre necessitates diagnostic screening over syndromic management because of a lack of reporting for symptoms.\n\nContribution:\u00a0The paper examines the epidemiology of STIs in Limpopo, South Africa, focusing on healthy, asymptomatic populations. It emphasises the need for laboratory screening, particularly in pregnant women, over empiric treatment because of high chances of missing infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/sajid.v39i1.618","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,27]],"date-time":"2024-11-27T07:18:14Z","timestamp":1732691894000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Sexually transmitted pathogens in asymptomatic women at Rethabile clinic, Limpopo, South Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"39","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0762-9229","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dembe","family":"Mukavhanyedzi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/017p87168","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Limpopo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6279-6409","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ivy","family":"Rukasha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/017p87168","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of Limpopo"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stewart J, Bukusi E, Celum C, Delany-Moretlwe S, Baeten JM. 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