Chlamydia trachomatis Infections
Stephen Jordan, David Nelson and William Geisler
from: Chlamydia Biology: From Genome to Disease (Edited by: Ming Tan, Johannes H. Hegemann and Christine Sütterlin). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2020) Pages: 1-30.
Abstract
Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular human bacterial pathogen that infects epithelial cells of the eye, oropharynx, urogenital, and anorectal mucosa and is responsible for the clinical diseases of trachoma, chlamydia (urogenital, oropharyngeal, and anorectal), and lymphogranuloma venereum. C. trachomatis infections occur worldwide and infection rates are increasing. C. trachomatis can cause chronic asymptomatic infections and can lead to complications, such as irreversible reproductive tract morbidity (e.g. tubal factor infertility) from genital chlamydia, and blindness from trachoma. Clinical manifestations of C. trachomatis infections range broadly from asymptomatic infection (most common) or relatively mild signs or symptoms (e.g. urethral or vaginal discharge) to more severe disease (e.g. pelvic inflammatory disease, epididymitis). Diagnosis of C. trachomatis infection cannot be accurately made by clinical signs or symptoms and requires identification of the pathogen, usually by nucleic acid detection. All C. trachomatis infections should be treated with antibiotics. For genital infections, reinfection should be ruled out by repeat testing approximately 3 months after treatment. Trachoma management involves a combination of four interventions at the community and individual levels: surgery for turned-in eyelashes (trichiasis), antibiotics, facial cleanliness, and environmental improvements read more ...
