Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in adults with chronic conjunctivitis in Nisava district

Introduction. Chlamydia trachomatis causes many infections, including eye infections. They manifest as inclusion conjunctivitis and trachoma. The agent is transmitted by dirty hands, eyeliners, medical instruments and via swimming-pool water or, in neonates, by passage through an infected birth canal. Due to the nonspecific clinical features at the beginning of the infection and delayed application of symptomatic, anti-allergic and non-specific antibiotic therapy, Chlamydia aetiology is usually established only after laboratory diagnosis in the chronic stage of infection. Objective. Determining the frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis antigen in conjunctival and genital samples of adult patients with chronic conjunctivitis in Nisava district. Methods. Our retrospective study was carried out on 116 patients (63 female and 53 male) with clinical signs and symptoms of chronic conjunctivitis. Chlamydia trachomatis antigen was detected by a direct immunofluorescence test with labelled monoclonal antibodies. Results. From a total of 116 examined patients in 37 patients Chlamydia trachomatis antigen was detected; 17 female and 20 male. Thirty-three of the patients had a bilateral infection and four unilateral. Among 24 patients who were also tested for Chlamydia trachomatis antigen collected by ocular and genital swabs, 19 had conjunctivitis associated with urethritis/vaginitis. Conclusion. The studied group of patients showed that the common cause of the chronic conjunctivitis were bacteria, but predominantly Chlamydia trachomatis. In most cases Chlamydia infection occurred bilaterally. The majority of patients had eye Chlamydia infection associated with genital Chlamydia infection. There was no statistically significant difference in the presence of the disease regarding gender.