Observations on sexually transmitted diseases in promiscuous males in Djibouti

Observations are reported on 7 sexually transmitted diseases in a heterosexual population of 105 promiscuous males in Djibouti, East Africa. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was cultured from urethral swabs from 34 subjects. Six isolates were beta lactamase positive (18%). High levels of resistance to antimicrobials were noted with penicillin, spectinomycin and cotrimoxazole, while tetracyclines and erythromycin were unvariably effective. Six patients had Chlamydia urethritis, one of whom had concomitant gonococcal urethritis. Half of the sera reacted positive for antibodies to Chlamydia. A total of 31 subjects had a positive treponemal FTA-Abs test; of these, only 14 had a reactive RPR test. Nineteen individuals were positive for HBsAg. One subject had a western blot confirmed HIV-1 infection, while none had antibodies to HIV-2 or HTLV-I.