title: Screening for Chlamydia trachomatis infection among infertile women in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a worldwide-distributed sexually transmitted infection that may lead to infertility.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to report the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among infertile women in Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A community-based study carried out at the obstetrics and gynecology clinic at Jazan General Hospital, Saudi Arabia. The study group included 640 Saudi infertile women who were aged between 18 and 40 years and who attended the gynecology clinic for infertility examination throughout 1 year of study (from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012). The randomized control group included 100 Saudi fertile women who attended the obstetrics clinic for routine antenatal care. All recruited women were screened for chlamydia infection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of serum-specific antibodies and then retested by the McCoy cell culture technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among infertile women was high, at 15.0%. The rate of chlamydia infection detected by ELISA was 9.84%, and it was 12.03% by the culture method (P = 0.2443).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection among Saudi infertile women demands a national screening program for early detection among infertile couples. ELISA is available as a simple screening test alternative to the culture method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Remah M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Kamel
keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis; ELISA; McCoy cell culture; infertility; sexually transmitted infection