RESUMO
A total of 533 obstetric and gynecological outpatients who visited the dedicated clinics in Gondar, Ethiopia, between April and August 1995 were investigated for Chlamydia-specific antibodies. Relevant epidemiological and clinical data were collected using a pretested questionnaire, clinical examinations and laboratory tests. Earlier, using an antigen specific ELISA technique, we had reported that only 33 (6%) of these women were positive for C. trachomatis in cervical swabs. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of C. trachomatis-specific antibodies in serum samples of the same patients collected at the time the cervical swabs were taken. Employing a genus-specific ELISA for the detection of chlamydial LPS antibodies, 90% of the sera were found to be positive for IgG, while 49% of the sera contained IgA and 28% IgM antibodies. For 436 of the positive sera, species specificity of the antibodies was determined by means of a micro-immunofluorescence assay. Antibodies against C. trachomatics were present in 75% and antibodies against C. pneumoniae in 69% of these sera. Forty-nine percent of the patients carried antibodies against both species. The antibody based assay estimated that 13.9% of the patients had acute genital chlamydial infection (antigen specific IgM and the simultaneous presence of C. trachomatis specific IgG, IgM and IgA). C. trachomatis antigen detection in cervical swabs apparently underestimated the real frequency of acute infections. Seroprevalence of C. pneumoniae antibodies in the Ethiopian patients was similar to that in industrialized countries.
