PREVALENCE OF CHLAMYDIA TRACHOMATIS AMONG ASYMPTOMATIC WOMEN

Authors

  • Mamuna Qayum
  • Muhammad Khalid -bin-Saleem

Abstract

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis is a ubiquitous pathogen worldwide and causes ocular, urogenital, and respiratory infections in humans. C. trachomatis infection of lower genital tract is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in different parts of the world. Their treatment, follow-up, and hopefulness for future is very important. Objectives of this study were to see the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among women of child bearing age and to determine the incidence of Chlamydia infection in neonates of women infected with Chlamydia. Methods: This observational study was carried out in Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, CMH Abbottabad, and Department of Ophthalmology, Women Medical College Abbottabad from January 2012 to June 2012. Urine samples were collected from 200 women aged 20–39 years attending Obs/Gyn Department of CMH Abbottabad. After delivery, babies who were born to mothers with infection of their genital tracts were examined with a 2.5×binocular loupe within a week of birth to rule out eye infection (Chlamydia Ophthalmic neonatorum). Results: The overall prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis was 4% in 200 eligible patients. The overall incidence of Chlamydia trachomatis in neonates was 1.66%. Conclusion: A significant proportion of women resident of Abbottabad District expressed evidence of exposure to Chlamydia trachomatis and significant number of neonate eyes were infected with the pathogen.Keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis, Chlamydia ophthalmic neonatorum, Sexually Transmitted Disease

References

Sexually Transmitted Diseases –Chlamydia, CDC for Disease Control and Prevention National center for STDs. Available from: www.cdc.gov/std/chlamydia/ [Accessed Mar 4, 2013]

Jeanne M. Clinical manifestation and diagnosis of Chlamydia Trachomatis infection. Available from: http://www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-manifestations-and-diagnosis-of-chlamydia-trachomatis-infections [Accessed on May 2nd 2013]

Patel LA, Sachdev D, Nagpal P, Chaudary U, Sonkar AS, Mendiratta LS, et al. Prevalence of Chlamydial infection among women visiting a gynaecology outpatient department: evaluation of an in-house PCR assay for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob 2010;9:24–33.

Rao VG, Anvikar A, Savagaonkar D, Bhatt J, Tiwary BK, Abbad A. Prevalence of sexually transmitted disease syndromes in tribal population of central India. Epidemiol Community Health 2009;63:805–6.

Bébéar C, deBarbeyrac B. Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections. Clin Microbiol Infect 2009;15:4–10.

Kim AA, Sun LP, Chhorvann C, Lindan C, Van Griensven F, Kilmarx PH, et al. High prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among indirect sex workers in Cambodia. Sex Transm Dis 2005;32:745–51.

Nessa K, Waris SA, Alam A, Huq M, Nahar S, Chawdhury FA, et al. Sexually transmitted infections among brothel-based sex workers in Bangladesh: high prevalence of asymptomatic infection. Sex Transm Dis 2005;32(1):13–9.

Chlamydia: Definition with Chlamydia Pictures and Photos Case studied in USA. Available from: www.lexic.us/definition-of/chlamydia. [accessed on May 5th 2013]

Jupelli M, Murthy AK, Chaganty BK, Guentzel MN, Selby DM, Vasquez MM, et al. Neonatal chlamydial pneumonia induces altered respiratory structure and function lasting into adult life. Lab Invest 2011;91:1530−9.

Meyers D, Wolff T, Gregory K, Marion L, Moyer V, Nelson H, Petitti D. et al. USPSTF recommendations for STI Screening. Am Fam Physician 2008;77:819−24.

National Chlamydia Screening Programme –Data tables. Available from: http://www.swpho.nhs.uk/ resource/item.aspx?RID=71424 [Retrieved on 28-8-2009]

Ryan KJ, Ray CG. (Eds). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill: 2004. p. 463–70.

Ghazi HO, Daghestani MH, Mohamed MF. Seropositivity of chlamydia trachomatis among Saudi pregnant women in Makkah, J Family Community Med 2006;13(2):61–4.

Qadri SM, Akhter J, Ingacio K. Incidence of Chlamydia trachomatis in a large Metropolitan in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Med J 1993;14:152–5.

Mania-Pramanik J, Kerkar S, Sonawane S, Mehta P, Salvi V. Current Chlamydia trachomatis Infection, A major cause of infertility. J Reprod Infertile 2012;13(4):204−10.

Chlamydia infections in women: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. Available from: www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ ency/article/000660.htm

Chlamydia in Women/Men: Symptoms, Treatments. Available from: www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/guide/chlamydia.

Published

2013-06-01

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 1-2 (2013): JOURNAL OF AYUB MEDICAL COLLEGE, ABBOTTABAD

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

License

Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License  CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.

USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.