title: [Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoea infections in sexual actives young women at a southern Brazilian city].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia and gonorrhea in a sample of women from Curitiba.
  
  
  METHODS
  this was a cross-sectional study with a sample of sexually active non-pregnant women aged between 16 and 23 years-old, with an intact uterus, with up to four sexual partners, without evidence of fever or purulent cervicitis, submitted to pelvic examination and PCR-based urine- testing for Chlamydia and gonorrhea. Exclusion criteria included: vaccination for HPV, vaccination history for the past 21 days, previous abnormal cytology, history of genital warts, splenectomy, immune disorders, and use of immunosuppressive drugs. An interview regarding sociodemographic and obstetric data and gynecological risk behavior for sexual transmitted diseases was applied. For statistical analysis, we used the χ(2) or Fisher's exact test to assess the association between variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the prevalence of Chlamydia and gonorrhea infection in the study group was 10.7 and 1.5%, respectively, and the rate of coinfection was 0.9%. No correlation was found between the age range of the volunteers, the onset of sexual activity, the number of sexual partners and of new sexual partners in the last six months, and the presence of Chlamydia or gonorrhea. In women who had vaginal discharge or ectropion, the prevalence of Chlamydia infection was two times higher than in those without such signs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the results of this study were similar to national studies using PCR in urine samples for the detection of Chlamydia and gonorrhea in samples of non-pregnant women of the same age groups and with the same background. Since the volunteers with more than four sexual partners and those who had purulent endocervicitis were excluded, it is believed that the prevalence of Chlamydia and gonorrhea infection could have been greater in this population.
authors.affiliation: Acadêmica de Pós-graduação Mestrado em Clínica Médica da Universidade Federal do Paraná – UFPR – Curitiba (PR), Brasil.
authors.forename: Regina Celi Passagnolo Sérgio
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Piazzetta
authors.forename: Newton Sérgio
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
authors.forename: Rosires Pereira
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: de Andrade
authors.forename: Giovana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piazzetta
authors.forename: Silvia Regina
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Piazzetta
authors.forename: Rosangela
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carneiro
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D005260:Female; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult