Abstract

COSCI, Aldo Rafael  and  MARCELO-MARIN, Héctor. Frequency of Chlamydia trachomatis in a population of pregnant women from a public hospital in Northern Argentina. Mem. Inst. Investig. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2024, vol.22, n.1, e22122406.  Epub Dec 30, 2024. ISSN 1812-9528.  https://doi.org/10.18004/mem.iics/1812-9528/2024.e22122406.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is a microorganism that causes the most prevalent bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the world. During pregnancy it can cause abortion, prematurity and low birth weight. The most common perinatal clinical manifestations are inclusion conjunctivitis and respiratory tract infection. CT infection in pregnant women has been reported in different countries and in Argentina few studies were carried out and its detection is not included in control programs. The Argentine Northwest is no stranger to the lack of data related to this infection, which is why this study includes a total of 250 pregnant women who attended the “Dr. Héctor Quintana” from San Salvador de Jujuy, for pregnancy control. Several swabs were taken to detect CT by polymerase chain reaction and perform vaginal exudate. The frequency of CT was 7.6%, in concordance with global and Argentinean cases. All the analyzed variables were found to constitute risk factors, more frequently in women under 25 years of age, which is explained by the anatomical characteristic that favors infection. A total of 22.64% of symptomatic patients had CT infection and a significant association between CT and abortion or premature birth was demonstrated. Furthermore, a greater frequency was observed in basic vaginal stages II and V. In conclusion, this study provided the first local epidemiological data in a particularly vulnerable population for this infection, considering that Argentina does not have a consensus for chlamydia screening during pregnancy.

Keywords : Chlamydia; pregnant women; PCR..

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )