Abstract
Chlamydia trachomatis is now frequently found in association with non-gonococcal urethritis in men, and it can be isolated from the cervical secretions of a proportion of their sexual contacts. Until recently, there have been difficulties in establishing the diagnosis of chlamydial infection with precision. Thus there is only circumstantial evidence that the presence of this organism in the female genital tract has any pathological significance for the woman herself or for any infants born whilst her infection is active.
This chapter discusses the development of simplified and improved rapid methods of laboratory diagnosis of C. trachomatis infections. These can now give results of a sensitivity and reproducibility similar to those used in the investigation of gonorrhoea. One such method has been applied by us in Liverpool for the past three years to the investigation of contacts of men with non-gonococcal urethritis, and to other groups. The presence of chlamydial infection has been correlated with the clinical findings in the uterine cervix, and it is apparent that infection during pregnancy can be associated with puerperal pyrexia, as well as with the development of conjunctivitis in the offspring. There are strong indications for effective antibiotic treatment, with clinical and laboratory follow-up, of all women with chlamydial infection of the cervix.
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Hobson, D., Rees, E. (1978). The role of Chlamydia trachomatis in female genital infections and in conjunctivitis of the newborn. In: Brumfitt, W., Hamilton-Miller, J.M.T. (eds) New perspectives in clinical microbiology. New perspectives in clinical microbiology, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7508-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7508-1_8
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