title: [Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among women candidates for in vitro fertilization at a public institution of the State of São Paulo, Brazil].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) among women candidates to in vitro fertilization (IVF) in a reference public service in southeastern Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women who were referred for IVF from April 1st, 2008 to December 31st, 2009 were enrolled sequentially in the study. A gynecological-obstetrical background questionnaire was applied and endocervical swab samples were obtained to search for CT and NG using hybrid capture and PCR. The variables studied were: age, color, education, duration of infertility, number of pregnancies and living children, history of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, number of sex partners, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), pelvic surgery, manipulation of the uterine cavity, smoking, and illicit drug use. The women were distributed according to the presence/absence of confirmed chlamydia infection and descriptive analysis was employed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 176 women tested the prevalence of CT infection was 1.1% and there was no NG infection. Two thirds of the women were ≥30 years old, with schooling ≥8 years and ≤5 years of infertility, and 56.2% had no children. The main background data were pelvic surgery (77.8%), manipulation of the uterine cavity (62.5%) and PID (27.8%). The tubal factor was the most prevalent, 73.3% of women (from 129), 37.5% had been sterilized, 35.8% had not been sterilized, and other factors had a prevalence <30%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT and NG infections had a low prevalence in this sample. Studies at other centers in the country are needed to confirm the prevalence of infection in this particular group of infertile women.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Tocoginecologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Márcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pantoja
authors.forename: Elisabete Aparecida
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Denise da Rocha
authors.initials: Dda R
authors.lastname: Pitta
authors.forename: José Erbolatto
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gabiatti
authors.forename: Maria Valéria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Bahamondes
authors.forename: Arlete Maria dos Santos
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fernandes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006268:Health Facilities; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000150:complications; D015995:Prevalence; D017150:Public Sector; D055815:Young Adult