Prevalence and cervical organism burden among Louisiana women with Trichomonas vaginalis infections.

Trichomonas vaginalis is the most common curable sexually transmitted infection (STI) worldwide. Although predominately asymptomatic, the disease spectrum of trichomoniasis in women is characterized primarily by signs and symptoms of vaginitis, including purulent discharge and localized vulvar pruritus and erythema. Several FDA-cleared nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are available for the diagnosis of T. vaginalis infections, but laboratory developed tests (LDTs) are widely utilized and cost-effective solutions in both the research and clinical diagnostic settings. LDT diagnosis of T. vaginalis is particularly appealing since it can be performed using remnant specimens collected for other STI testing. Using a LDT implemented as part of this study, T. vaginalis was detected in 7% of participating Louisiana women (14/199). The mean T. vaginalis organism burden was 1.0x106 ± 4.5x105 organisms per mL of ThinPrep PreservCyt. Using DNA eluates obtained after HPV testing on the cobas 4800 system, the T. vaginalis LDT was characterized by excellent intra- and interassay reproducibility (coefficient of variation values all <3.5%). Compared with two commercially available NAATs from TIB MOLBIOL, the sensitivity and specificity of the LDT was 92.9 and 99.5%, respectively. Collectively, this study details the diagnostic and quantitative utility of a LDT for T. vaginalis. When applied in the clinical research setting, we confirmed the high prevalence of T. vaginalis, but also observed extraordinarily high organism burdens in the cervix. These findings highlight the unique host-pathogen relationship of T. vaginalis with lower reproductive tract tissues, and substantiate the need for continued investigation of this highly prevalent STI.

Trends in systemic psoriasis treatment therapies from 1993 through 2010.

BACKGROUND: Moderate-to-severe psoriasis generally requires systemic therapy, and is often undertreated. OBJECTIVE: To determine and analyze what courses of treatment and in what frequency are being utilized to combat psoriasis in the United States. METHODS: Analysis of data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) of the National Center for Health Statistics. Data were analyzed to examine the prevalence of different therapy techniques to combat psoriasis from 1993 through 2010. The trends for phototherapy, methotrexate (MTX), retinoids, cyclosporine A (CSA), systemic steroids, and biologics were all analyzed over the entire 18-year period and independently before and after the introduction of biologics in 2002. RESULTS: From 1993 to 2010, the trend for total systemic treatments has not significantly increased (P=0.5). Frequency of phototherapy treatments significantly decreased from 1993 to 2010 (P<0.001). Since the introduction of biologics in 2002, their frequency has significantly increased, becoming the most frequently used treatment from 2008-2010 (P<0.0001). LIMITATIONS: Severity of psoriasis was not recorded in the NAMCS and NHAMCS. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of systemic treatments to treat psoriasis has not significantly increased from 1993 to 2010. Despite the introduction of biologics, it appears that little progress has been made in reducing under-treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis.