title: Chlamydia infection among pregnant women and those seeking termination.
abstract: A total of 60 women tested positive for chlamydia during the study period. Of these, 75% (n = 45) were pregnant and were divided into those seeking termination (38%) and the antenatal group (62%). Of all pregnant chlamydia-positive women, 35% were teenagers. Most were aged <25 years, but if all test-positive women up to 30 years were included, 100% infections among the termination group and 92% infection among the antenatal group were detected. Of all chlamydia-positive pregnant women, 69% were nulliparous and 15.6% had multiple sexual partners. While 28.6% of the women in the antenatal group were married, in the termination group, none were married (p = 0.02). All women in the termination group were asymptomatic, while 75% of the antenatal chlamydia-positive women were emergency admissions (p < 0.0001). To conclude, opportunistic screening should be offered to pregnant women aged 25 - 29 years, to enhance detection. Testing strategies should focus on testing pregnant women of <19 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, UK. drmanishamathur@aol.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Caird
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Ho-Yen
mesh_terms: D000023:Abortion Applicants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies