ABSTRACT
The prevalence of urogenital infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis was examined in 100 non-pregnant women with cervicitis, and 100 healthy women, in San Salvador City, El Salvador. Pharmacia Chlamydia EIA test was used for the detection of chlamydial antigen in urethral and cervical specimens from all the women. Direct immunofluorescence was used for confirmative tests on the EIA positive and the negative gray zone samples. C. trachomatis antigen was detected in 28% of the women with cervicitis compared with 5% in the group of healthy women (P < 0.001). The cervicitis group were also screened for Neisseria gonorrhoeae which was isolated from 12% of them. One strain out of 12 was beta-lactamase producing (PPNG). Five per cent of the women with cervicitis had simultaneous C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae infections.
Subject(s)
Chlamydia Infections/epidemiology , Chlamydia trachomatis , Adolescent , Adult , Cervix Uteri/microbiology , Chlamydia Infections/complications , El Salvador/epidemiology , Female , Gonorrhea/complications , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques , Middle Aged , Urethra/microbiology , Uterine Cervical Diseases/etiology , Uterine Cervicitis/epidemiologyABSTRACT
One-hundred and twenty-nine pregnant women in labour (age range 15-46 years; median age 23) and 42 infants born to chlamydia-positive mothers (age range 5-15 days; median age 10) were investigated to estimate the prevalence and incidence, respectively, of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in San Salvador, El Salvador. Urethral and cervical samples were obtained from all women and conjunctival specimens were taken from both eyes of each child. The chlamydial antigen was detected with the commercial Pharmacia Chlamydia EIA kit. Direct immunofluorescence (DFA) (Syva MicroTrak) was used for confirmation. In the newborns both EIA and DFA tests on direct preparations from ocular smears were performed on all the samples. The prevalence of chlamydial infection in pregnant women was 44% (57/129). The incidence of chlamydial infection in neonates was 64% (27/42), and the majority of the infected children (56%) had conjunctivitis. Referring to individuals rather than specimens the sensitivity of EIA tests on conjunctival samples from the infants was low (37%) as compared with 91% on urethral and cervical specimens from the pregnant women.
