Prevalence of genital chlamydia infection in urban women of reproductive age, Nairobi, Kenya

BMC Research Notes

Gunturu Revathi¹  William Stones²  Timona Obura²  Walter P Konya²  Ruchika Kohli¹ 

[1] Department of Pathology, Aga Khan University Hospital, P O Box 30270-00100, Nairobi, Kenya;Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya

关键词: Asymptomatic;    Vaginal swab;    Reproductive age;    Chlamydia;    Prevalence;   

Others  :  1144861
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-0500-6-44

 received in 2012-08-24, accepted in 2013-01-24,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the major causes of sexually transmitted infections throughout the world. Most infections are asymptomatic and remain undetected. Burden of disease in the Kenyan population is not well characterised. This study was done to define the prevalence of genital Chlamydia infection in a representative female population.

Findings

A cross-sectional study design was employed. All women attending out-patient clinics (antenatal, gynaecology, family planning) and accident and emergency departments at two study sites over a five month period were invited to consent to completion of a questionnaire and vaginal swab collection. A rapid point-of-care immunoassay based test was performed on the swabs. Women who tested positive for Chlamydia were offered treatment, together with their partner(s), and advised to come for a follow-up test.

A total of 300 women were tested. The prevalence of genital Chlamydia trachomatis was found to be 6% (95% CI 3.31% – 8.69%). The prevalence was higher in women who represented a higher socioeconomic level, but this difference was not significant (p=0.061). Use of vaginal swabs was observed to be a more acceptable form of sample collection.

Conclusion

The prevalence of genital Chlamydia is significant in our female population. There is a justifiable need to institute opportunistic screening programs to reduce the burden of this disease. Rapid and low cost point-of-care testing as a potential component of sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening can be utilised.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Kohli et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Ohman H, Tiitinen A, Halttunen M, Paavonen J, Surcel HM: Cytokine gene polymorphism and Chlamydia trachomatis-specific immune responses. Hum Immunol 2011, 72(3):278-282.
• [2]Lourdes Mahilum-Tapay VL, Wawrzyniak JJ, Sarah A, Alison S, Penelope B, Ines U-L, Goh BT, Catherine I, Lee HH: New point of care Chlamydia Rapid Test—bridging the gap between diagnosis and treatment: performance evaluation study. BMJ 2007, 335:1190-1194.
• [3]Jose Paolo V, Magbanua BT, Claude-Edouard M, Aura A-A, Sarah A, Ines U-L, Catherine I, Helen L: Chlamydia trachomatis variant not detected by plasmid based nucleic acid amplification tests: molecular characterisation and failure of single dose azithromycin. Sex Transm Infect 2007, 83:339-343.
• [4]Gaydos CATM, Dalesio N, Wood BJ, et al.: Comparison of three nucleic acid amplification tests for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in urine specimens. J Clin Microbiol 2004, 42:3041-3045.
• [5]Holland-Hall CMWH, Murray PJ: Self-collected vaginal swabs for the detection of multiple sexually transmitted infections in adolescent girls. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol 2002, 15:307-313.
• [6]Tanksale VS, Sahasrabhojanee M, Patel V, Nevrekar P, Menezes S, Mabey D: The reliability of a structured examination protocol and self administered vaginal swabs: a pilot study of gynaecological outpatients in Goa, India. Sex Transm Infect 2003, 79(3):251-253.
• [7]Vickerman PWC, Peeling RW, et al.: Modelling the cost effectiveness of rapid point of care diagnostic tests for the control of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers. Sex Transm Infect 2006, 82:403-412.
• [8]Performance of the APTIMA Combo 2 assay for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoea in female urine and endocervical swab specimens http://www.dimensionresearch.com/resources/calculators/conf_prop.html webcite
• [9]Hawken MP, Melis RDJ, Ngombo DT, Mandaliya K, Ng’ang’a LW, Price J, Dallabetta G, Temmerman M: Part time female sex workers in a suburban community in Kenya: a vulnerable hidden population. Sex Transm Infect 2002, 78:3041-3045.
• [10]Thomas T, Choudhri S, Kariuki C, Moses S: Identifying cervical infection among pregnant women in Nairobi, Kenya: limitations of risk assessment and symptom-based approaches. Genitourin Med 1996, 72:334-338.
• [11]Walton SMMJ: An evaluation of secondary infertility in Kenya. East Afr Med J 1976, 53:310-314.
• [12]Adams EJ, Charlett A, Edmunds WJ, Hughes G: Chlamydia trachomatis in the United Kingdom: a systematic review and analysis of prevalence studies. Sex Transm Inf 2004, 80:1411-1416.
• [13]Molano EW M, Posso H, Morré SA, Ronderos M, Franceschi S, Arslan A, Meijer CJLM, Muñoz N, van den Brule AJC: Prevalence and determinants of Chlamydia trachomatis infections in women from Bogota, Colombia. Sex Transm Inf 2003, 79:1947-1951.
• [14]Byron E, Batteiger WT, Susan O, et al.: Repeated chlamydia trachomatis genital infections in adolescent women. J Infect Dis 2009, 82:403-412.
• [15]Navarro C, Jolly A, Nair R, Chen Y: Risk factors for genital chlamydial infection. Can J Infect Dis 2002, 13(3):195-207.