The Trend and Causative Pathogens of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) in Albania

The aim of this study was to highlight the trend and causative pathogens of STI in Albania. The study included all cases of sexually transmitted infections reported to the Public Health Institute during the period 2009 - 2014. There was a sharp rise in total number of patients with STI from 225 patients in 2011 to 1828 patients in 2012 (fig.1). The most common age group was 21-30 years with 43.5 % of total patients.95 % of patients were females and 5 % males, pless than0.01. Only 2.3 % of them reported regular use of condom. The most common pathogen was Candida albicans (70.6 %) followed by Gardnerella vaginalis (12.2 %) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (7.1 %). Effective prevention and care can be achieved by use of a combination of responses. Services for prevention and for care of people with sexually transmitted infections should be expanded and include public health promotion.