title: Rapid communication: Cervical Chlamydia trachomatis in women at low risk for infection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence suggests that the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis can cause asymptomatic genital infection in persons at risk for acquisition of the organism. We employed 2 independent molecular screening systems to assess such inapparent cervical chlamydial infections in low-risk female patients attending general (non-STD) clinics in 2 locations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred seventy-five cervical swab samples were obtained in duplicate from patients attending a general women's clinic (278 samples) and a colposcopy clinic (97 samples). One set of samples from the general clinic was screened by a highly-specific molecular hybridization system, using a probe targeting the chlamydial 16S ribosomal RNA; the other set was screened with the use of the Chlamydiazyme test. Samples from the colposcopy clinic were screened using a sensitive and specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay system targeting chlamydia; the duplicates were assayed by direct fluorescent antibody assay (DFA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 278 patients screened by RNA-directed hybridization, 6.5% were positive for C. trachomatis, in contrast to screening of duplicate samples via Chlamydiazyme, which indicated that 3.6% were infected. PCR-based screening of the additional 97 patients gave a positivity rate of 17.5% for the organism, whereas DFA on duplicate samples from this group showed only 7.5% positive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These observations suggest that the level of asymptomatic cervical C. trachomatis infection is significant even in women who are at low risk for such infections; the data also indicate that results from standard laboratory screening for chlamydia should be viewed with caution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cheema
authors.forename: M U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Whittum-Hudson
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hudson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012306:Risk; D002575:Uterine Cervicitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*