title: Cervical infection with Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in women from ten areas in four continents. A cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Better information on the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection is needed in many world areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study of population-based samples of nonpregnant women aged 15 to 44 years in Nigeria, Colombia, Argentina, Vietnam (2 areas), China, Thailand (2 areas), Korea, and Spain. 5,328 consenting women aged 15 to 44 years participated. Exfoliated cervical cells were collected and testing for CT and NG and human papillomavirus (HPV) was done using PCR-based assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age-standardized CT prevalence ranged between 0.2% (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.0-0.7%) in Spain and 5.6% (95% CI: 3.4-7.8%) in Nigeria. NG ranged between 0% (with broad CIs) in several areas and 2.6% (95% CI: 1.0-4.2%) in Nigeria. Prevalence of CT in all areas combined was greater in women aged 15 to 24 (4.5; 95% CI: 3.4-5.8%) than 25 to 44 (2.6; 95% CI: 2.1-3.1%), whereas NG prevalence was similar in the 2 age groups (0.3%). The only significant risk factors were NG infection (for CT), CT infection (for NG) and infection with high-risk HPV types (for both).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of CT and, most notably, NG was relatively low in a variety of countries. Our findings, however, do not apply to subsets of high-risk women who are likely to be underrepresented in our population-based samples.
authors.affiliation: International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France. franceschi@iarc.fr
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Franceschi
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Adriaan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van den Brule
authors.forename: Rolando
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Herrero
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: Pham-Thi-Hoang
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Anh
authors.forename: F Xavier
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Bosch
authors.forename: Nguyen-Trong
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Hieu
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.forename: Hector
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Posso
authors.forename: You-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: Hai-Rim
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Sukhon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sukvirach
authors.forename: Jaiye O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Peter J F
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Snijders
authors.forename: Nubia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Chris J L M
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Meijer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control