Rising trend of reported gonorrhoea and urethritis incidence in Burkina Faso from 1978 to 1983

Abstract

Rising trends in gonorrhoea and urethritis infection rates are being reported from most African countries. We investigated infection trends in Burkina Faso from 1978 to 1983, using data provided by the Ministry of Health. The data included monthly distribution of cases to permit analysis of seasonal variations, average number of reported cases per four-week period to estimate the yearly trend, actual number of reported cases per four-week period to measure the secular trend, and a single-period moving average as a more stable measure of disease occurrence. Seasonal trends demonstrate that the average number of reported cases of gonorrhoea is highest from January to May, declines from May to July, and levels off from August to December. The yearly trend from 1978 through 1983 increased by an average of 10·2% per year (P < 0·001). The geographical distribution of the incidence in 1983 indicates that the northern region around Dori has the greatest number of reported cases. This high frequency is likely to reflect the severity of the problem among the nomads of the north since reporting would probably be low from this under-served and under-populated region. Peak incidence is correlated with the harvest season and may reflect increased sexual contacts among young, mobile men. The rising rate of gonorrhoea/ urethritis infection is an especially urgent matter, given the expanding epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus in West Africa.