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Reproductive Tract Infections pp 7–33Cite as

Reproductive Tract Infections: Challenges for International Health Policy, Programs, and Research

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Part of the book series: Reproductive Biology ((RBIO))

Abstract

In resource-poor settings around the world, reproductive tract infections (RTIs) are extremely common, and the consequences for the health and social well-being of women and their children are frequent and potentially devastating.1,2 RTIs include three types of infection: sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as chlamydial infection, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, syphilis, chancroid, genital herpes, genital warts, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; endogenous infections, which are caused by overgrowth of organisms that can be present in the genital tract of healthy women, such as bacterial vaginosis and vulvovaginal candidiasis; and iatrogenic infections, which are associated with medical procedures. All these infections are preventable or treatable causes of infertility, ectopic pregnancy, cervical cancer, fetal wastage, low birth weight, infant blindness, neonatal pneumonia, and mental retardation.3,4 In addition, they facilitate transmission of HIV.5,6 Because of sociocultural factors and structural barriers to care, both the incidence and the impact of RTI sequelae are likely to be particularly great in the Third World.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sexually Transmitted Diseases Branch National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Dr. Judith N. Wasserheit (Chief)

  2. Center for AIDS and STDs, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98122, USA

    Dr. King K. Holmes

Authors
  1. Dr. Judith N. Wasserheit
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  2. Dr. King K. Holmes
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Women’s Health Coalition, New York, New York, USA

    Adrienne Germain

  2. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    King K. Holmes

  3. Institut de Medicina Tropicale, Antwerp, Belgium

    Peter Piot

  4. National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Judith N. Wasserheit

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Wasserheit, J.N., Holmes, K.K. (1992). Reproductive Tract Infections: Challenges for International Health Policy, Programs, and Research. In: Germain, A., Holmes, K.K., Piot, P., Wasserheit, J.N. (eds) Reproductive Tract Infections. Reproductive Biology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0691-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0691-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0693-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0691-5

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