فراواني عفونت با كلاميديا تراكوماتيس در زنان باردار مراجعه كننده به درمانگاه هاي مامايي تهران

Molecular Survey on Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis Infection in Pregnant Woman Attending OB&GY Clinics of Tehran

Background and objective: Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the common and curable STls wich can be symptomatic or asymptomatic. Today PCR is a very sensitive diagnostic test for detecting chlamydia in urine and can be used for routine screening as a noninvasive test in prenatal care. There are few studies on C. trachomatis prevalence in Iranian pregnant women. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of C. trachomatis urogenital infection by PCR on urine sample and to evaluate the importance of screening for asymptomatic infection in Iranian pregnant women. Materials and method: This was a descriptive-analytic and cross-sectional study on 340 pregnant women. Participants selected randomly from attendees to 5 prenatal care clinics of Tehran. The research material was questionnaire and urine samples which were transported to Avesina research Institute daily to extract the DNA and preparing for PCR test. Data analyzed by SPSS ver: 13 and evaluated statistically by t-test, Chi-square , Fisher Exact test and logistic regression considering P< 0.05. Results: 11.2% (38/340) of participants had positive PCR test. Mean of 26.16±5.21 years old. Infection was more prevalent in moderate educated, smoking and house keeping participants. Based reproductive history infection was prevalent among participants with history of vaginal discharge, pelvic pain, infertility and abortion. It was less prevalent among participants with preterm delivery. Based on statistical analysis there was no relation among reproductive and personal history of participants and test results. Conclusion: Based on estimated prevalence it seems that chlamydial infection is prevalent in studied population. In populations with prevalence higher that 4% screening programs are recommended, so Chlamydia screening can be considered as a part of Iranian prenatal care programs to reduce the burden and complication of disease.