Lymphogranuloma venereum

In the United States LGV is generally considered to be a rare disease. According to the New York State Department of Health, the incidence of LGV is highest among sexually active people living in tropical or subtropical climates, including some areas of the southern U.S.

The most frequent clinical manifestation of LGV among heterosexual men is tender inguinal and/or femoral lymphadenopathy that is usually unilateral. Women and homosexually active men might have proctocolitis or inflammatory involvement of perirectal or perianal lymphatic tissues that can result in fistulas and strictures. When most patients seek medical care, they no longer have the self-limited genital ulcer that sometimes occurs at the inoculation site. The diagnosis usually is made serologically and by exclusion of other causes of inguinal lymphadenopathy or genital ulcers.

Sex partners of patients who have LGV should be examined, tested for urethral or cervical chlamydial infection, and treated if they had sexual contact with the patient during the 30 days preceding onset of symptoms in the patient.

See also:

• Chlamydia

from the public domain resource "1998 Guidelines for Treatment of Sexually Transmitted Diseases" MMWR 47(RR-1);1-118 Publication date: 01/23/1998 at http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/p0000480/p0000480.asp#head007005000000000 note that this has not been modified since 1998, and may be out of date