Sexual health
Sally Robinson in Priorities for Health Promotion and Public Health, 2021
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection caused by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium. It is the most commonly diagnosed, curable, sexually transmitted infection in the UK. In 2018, there were 218,095 new cases of chlamydia in England, an increase of 6% from the previous year (PHE, 2019a). At the same time, 2017 to 2018, there was a 4% rise in chlamydia infections in Scotland and a 6% rise in Northern Ireland (Cameron et al., 2019; PHA, 2019). The data in Wales are collated differently and comparing April to September 2017 with the same period in 2018 rates of chlamydia fell by 2% (PHW, 2019). Chlamydia affects both men and women across all age groups, but it is particularly prevalent among sexually active young people.
Knowledge Area 10: Gynaecological Problems
Rekha Wuntakal, Ziena Abdullah, Tony Hollingworth in Get Through MRCOG Part 1, 2020
It is an obligate intracellular pathogen and cannot grow outside a living cell. Chlamydia infection is a sexually transmitted infection. Certain strains of C. trachomatis (serovars A, B, Ba, C) are associated with trachoma, which is a major cause of blindness worldwide. Serovars L1, L2 and L3 are associated with lymphogranuloma venereum. Serovars D to K cause non-specific urethritis and epididymitis in men and peri-hepatitis, cervicitis, urethritis, endometritis and salpingitis (infection of upper genital tract leading to PID) in women. It can cause Reiter’s syndrome in both men and women (conjunctivitis, proctitis, urethritis and reactive seronegative arthritis). Its long-term sequelae include chronic pelvic pain, infertility and ectopic pregnancy. It is associated with increased rates of transmission of HIV infection. It can be transmitted to the neonate during its passage through the birth canal and may cause conjunctivitis and pneumonia.
Management of sexually transmitted diseases
Hilary Curtis, Tony Hoolaghan, Carey Jewitt in Sexual Health Promotion in General Practice, 2018
Chlamydia should be considered in women with vaginal discharge, intermenstrual or post-coital bleeding, dyspareunia, dysmenorrhoea/ menorrhagia or pelvic pain. Recent studies have found a prevalence of chlamydia of 8% in women requesting termination of pregnancy and in women having symptoms requiring speculum investigation. Women who swab positive for chlamydia have a 60% likelihood of developing pelvic infection post-termination of pregnancy, which is a good argument for swabbing and, where appropriate, treating all women prior to the termination. The easiest method of detecting chlamydia in general practice is enzyme immunoassay (EIA). This requires special chlamydia swabs, which need to be taken from the endocervix. First, the cervix should be wiped clean, and then the swab inserted well into the endocervix and rotated vigorously. Ideally, a urethral swab should be taken at the same time, as this will identify approximately 20-30% of women not detected from endocervical swabs alone.
UK guidelines for the medical and laboratory procurement and use of sperm, oocyte and embryo donors (2019)
Published in Human Fertility, 2021
Helen Clarke, Shona Harrison, Marta Jansa Perez, Jackson Kirkman-Brown
In order to minimize the risk of transmission of bacterial infections all prospective donors should, prior to donation, screen negative for:Syphilis. Caused by infection with Treponema pallidum. It is transmitted by direct contact with an infectious lesion or by vertical transmission (trans-placental passage) during pregnancy.Gonorrhoea. Caused by infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The primary sites of infection are the mucous membranes of the urethra, endocervix, rectum, pharynx and conjunctiva. Transmission is by direct inoculation of infected secretions from one mucous membrane to another.Chlamydia. Genital chlamydial infection is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Infection is primarily through penetrative sexual intercourse.
Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae PCR detection in women treated for ectopic pregnancy
Published in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2022
Jana Racková, Jozef Záhumenský, Michael Zikán, Erika Menzlová, Borek Sehnal
Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection is the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide (Chemaitelly et al. 2019). Polymerase chain reaction proved chlamydial nucleic acid in endocervical specimen of 10.1% of Slovak women (Mikulova et al. 2013). The persisting chronic chlamydial infection can be associated with long-term problems such as dyspareunia and signs of dysuria (Peitsidis et al. 2012). However it may be completely asymptomatic in both partners and can manifest later in life as subfertility, tubal occlusion or ectopic pregnancy (Rantsi et al. 2019). Neisseria gonorrheae infection is less common and can manifest symptoms like pelvic inflammatory disease. However, it can also be a risk factor for ectopic pregnancy (Stevens and Criss 2018). While both pathogens can cause a chronic and inapparent infection, we presume that ChT and/or NG nucleic acid can be detected in cervical swab, endometrium or fallopian tube at the time of ectopic nidation. The aim of our study was to verify this hypothesis, confirm anamnestic risk factors for ChT/NG positivity and state appropriate antibiotic therapy of PID in case of statistically significant results.
Ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection: elimination with mass drug administration
Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, 2019
Meraf A. Wolle, Sheila K. West
Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) is a gram-negative obligate intracellular bacterium. It has a reduced genome, ~1 MBp, and thus relies on its host cell for many of its metabolic needs. C. trachomatis has three human biovars: serovars A to C, which infect the ocular conjunctiva, serovars D to K which infect the genital tract, and serovars L1 to L3 which are more invasive and attack the lymph nodes near the genital tract. Serovars D to K can also cause ocular infections in infants and adults exposed to infected genital secretions. Trachoma, the main ocular Chlamydia infection, is caused by repeat bouts of infection with C. trachomatis ocular serovars, A, B, Ba, and C and is the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide. Humans are the only natural host for these strains [2,3].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Chlamydia Trachomatis
- Dysuria
- Ectopic Pregnancy
- Epididymitis
- Infertility
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
- Trachoma
- Vaginal Discharge
- Sexually Transmitted Infection
- Incubation Period