The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnant Thai women.

ABSTRACT

Chlamydia trachomatis infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection. It can cause pelvic inflammatory disease and subsequently result in tubal infertility. Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnancy can also cause neonatal conjunctivitis and pneumonia. This descriptive study showed that Chlamydia trachomatis infection of the cervix among pregnant women, more than 37 weeks of gestation, attending the prenatal clinic at King Chulalongkorn Memorial hospital was found in 10 per cent by means of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and 2 per cent by using culture method. The present study demonstrated that all the 182 newborn infants had no neonatal Chlamydia trachomatis infection by using multiplex PCR and culture method. All the babies had Apgar's score of more than 7. At 2 months follow-up, 155 infants were evaluated and had no evidence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection.