فراواني عفونت ادراري تناسلي كلاميديا تراكوماتيس در مردان بدون علامت زنداني و غيرزنداني به روش PCR

Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis urogenital infection in male asymptomatic prisoners and non-prisoners by PCR

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis is a common sexually transmitted infection which can be asymptomati c or with various symptoms. Epidemiologically, Citrachomatis is well studied in women, but information concerning the rate of infection in sexually active asymptomatic young men is limited. The main purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of C irachomatis genitourinary tract infection in asymptomatic high risk and low-risk males. Methods: In this case-control study, 130 male inmates of Qarchak Varamin Prison were enrolled as cases. The control group consisted of 138 men, chosen randomly from those referred to Bu-Ali Reference Laboratory for receiving health certificate for their occupation or prcmani age purposes. The research materials were a questionnaire and urine samples, which were transported daily to Avicenna Research Institute for DNA extraction and PCR tests. All data were statistically analyzed by independent t-tests, chisquare, Fisher ʹs exact test, Mantel-Haenszel, and mnltiple logistic models. Level of significance was considered 0.05. Results: Three out of 130 (2.3%) samples obtained from the inmates and one out of 138 (0.7%) samples from the connol group were positive for C trachomatis; this difference was not statistically significant. The two groups exhibited significant differences in age, agc at their first marriage, age at their first sexual contact, educational achievements, marital status, number of sexual partners, use of condoms, addiction, smoking, alcohol consumption, and histories of Hepatiti s B, C or HlV infections and genital ulcers. Statistical analyses showed no significant correlation among any of the variables and increased risk of infection in the studied groups. Conclusion: Despite outstanding differences concerning the social status and risk factors between the inmates and the control group, the rate of infection was low in both groups. Therefore, screening for C trachomatis by PCR is not recommended for asymptomatic Iranian men. However, larger studies arc necessary to determine the exact prevalence of the disease and the role of screening tests. In addition, it seems that simpler screening tests may be more appropriate and more cost-effective for epidemiologic studies in populat ions with low infection rates.