Follow-up, treatment, and reinfection rates among asymptomatic chlamydia trachomatis cases in general practice.
BACKGROUND
Adequate treatment and follow-up of patients is essential to the success of a screening programme for Chlamydia trachomatis. There has been a lack of data on follow-up, confirmation of infections, and reinfection rates among asymptomatic patients in general practice.


OBJECTIVE
7b study the rates of diagnostic confirmation of C trachomatis infection, successful treatment, and reinfection one year after cases were detected in a screening programme for asymptomatic infections.


METHODS
Prospective cohort study


METHODS
Fifteen general practices in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.


METHODS
One hundred and twenty-four patients with asymptomatic C trachomatis infections were requested to provide a cervical or urethral swab and a urine specimen, for the purpose of diagnostic confirmation before being treated. One year after the first screening, all of the patients were invited for a second screening. All samples were tested using the ligase chain reaction (Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, USA).


RESULTS
Out of 124 patients, 110 (89%) attended the scheduled appointment for diagnostic confirmation and treatment; 92 (84%) of them were confirmed to be positive and received treatment. At the second screening a year later, none of the 56 patients who had received treatment and who had been screened a second time were reinfected.


CONCLUSIONS
No asymptomatic patients werefound to have reinfections with C trachomatis one year after diagnostic confirmation and treatment. This underlines the effectiveness of the screening and treatment strategy
van Valkengoed
Irene G M
IG
Department of Pathology, University Hospital, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherland.
Morré
Servaas A
SA
van den Brule
Adriaan J C
AJ
Meijer
Chris J L M
CJ
Bouter
Lex M
LM
van Eijk
Jacques Th M
JT
Boeke
A Joan P
AJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence