Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by L1, L2 L3 sorovars of the intracellular bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis. It has endemic features in parts of Africa, Asia, South America and Caribbean, and is rare in developed countries. Meanwhile, many cases were diagnosed, mainly in men who have sex with men (MSM), in the Netherlands, and since 2004, this disease has been notified by other European countries, North America and Australia. This increased incidence seems like an outbreak and common features in these reports were: MSM, Caucasian race / ethnicity, mean age above 35 years, predominantly (>70%) co-infected with HIV. Complaints included anorectal pain, tenesmus and constipation. After these reports, many countries started doing active research in their people. The lack of a specific diagnostic test has complicated LGV case ascertainment. In the absence of laboratory confirmation of L serovars, patients with symptoms suggestive of LGV should be presumptively treated with antibacterial therapy for 3 weeks. If routine LGV serovar typing is unavailable, most authors proposed administration of syndromic LGV treatment for MSM with anorectal chlamydia and either proctitis detected by proctoscopic examination, more than 10 white blood cells/high-power field detected on an anorectal smear specimen, or HIV seropositivity. We believed the incidence of LGV is also increasing in Brazil, and new cases are not being diagnosed because the ignorance about this world outbreak. We suggest that anal ulcer or proctitis in anal sex practitioners must have a high suspicious of LGV infection.
Lymphogranuloma venereum; Chlamydia trachomatis; Proctitis; Anal; ulcer; Sexually transmitted diseases