Written By Vanessa Kariuki ||
Researchers from the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) have identified two new STI strains among females in Kenya’s border county of Busia.
New changes in the genes linked to chlamydia and gonorrhoea were found by the researchers when they investigated the reason for an upsurge in STI cases at two local hospitals.
Sequential sampling was employed by the researchers to gather endocervical swabs from 424 Kenyan women aged 15 and older who reported STI symptoms.
They discovered that gonorrhoea and chlamydia were present in all of the ladies.
The sociodemographic traits of the sampled women will be investigated by the researchers, including sex protection, past antibiotic use, comorbidities, and similar infections.
Prof. Samson Muuo, assistant principal research scientist at Kemri’s Center for Microbiology Research, disclosed that the two novel mutations found in the MtrR and 23S rRNA genes were connected to macrolide resistance and did not share a common ancestor with the previously reported ones.
According to Prof. Muuo, co-infection is not a novel phenomena in disease, and the phenomenon seen in the study is normal when a person is exposed to various infections.
Also, he disclosed that the gonorrhoea and chlamydia variants they found were attacking in tandem, indicating that the STIs are widespread in the region.
Among the most often reported causes of urogenital tract infections in women are Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoea, and Mycoplasma genitalium, the researchers found.
Significant drug resistance in C. trachomatis and M. genitalium is caused by mutations in the 23S rRNA gene, the drug-binding site gene. Macrolide resistance can be brought on by mutations in the mtrR gene in N. gonorrhoea.
The reason Busia has a high rate of STDs is that it is a border town where truck drivers stop, according to Ms. ShillahSimiyu, a Kenyan epidemiology who works at the World Health Organization’s African Region Office.
In order to avoid contracting a STI, the general public is advised to practice safe sex and seek medical assistance immediately.
A wake-up call for the nation as a whole and the region of East Africa where STIs are prevalent has been provided by the discovery of novel mutations and the prevalence of STIs in Busia County.
