RESUMO
To study the feasibility of self-collected specimens for testing human papillomavirus (HPV) status among hard-to-reach women, outreach nurses recruited women in women's centres, shelters and alleys in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Of the 151 participants for whom samples were available, 43 (28.5%) tested positive for high-risk HPV. Outreach nurses were able to recontact 81.4% of the participants who tested positive and referred them for further testing. About 14% (21/151) of participants had never received a Papanicolaou smear in British Columbia, as compared with 8.3% (608/7336) of women in the BC general population (p < 0.05). This difference suggests that self-collection of specimens for HPV testing is a feasible method to reach women who have not previously participated in cervical cancer screening programs.
Assuntos
Programas de Rastreamento/métodos , Infecções por Papillomavirus/diagnóstico , Neoplasias do Colo do Útero/prevenção & controle , Neoplasias do Colo do Útero/virologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Colúmbia Britânica/epidemiologia , DNA Viral/isolamento & purificação , Estudos de Viabilidade , Feminino , Humanos , Modelos Logísticos , Teste de Papanicolaou , Valor Preditivo dos Testes , Fatores de Risco , Manejo de Espécimes , População Urbana , Esfregaço Vaginal/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
From mid 1997 to end of 1999, there was a sexually-transmitted infectious syphilis outbreak mainly in heterosexual people in British Columbia, Canada, that was concentrated in Vancouver. The rate across the province increased from less than 0.5 to 3.4 per 100000, and the rate in Vancouver reached 12.9 per 100000. We aimed to eliminate the syphillis outbreak by treating people at risk of infection. In 2000, a targeted mass treatment programme provided azithromycin (1.8 g orally) to 4384 at-risk residents in this city. After the programme, syphilis frequency fell significantly for 6 months (p=0.016), but rose again in 2001. Results from curve fitting analyses showed that the number of cases in 2001 (177) was higher than expected (0.0001