[Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis by several methods in the uterine cervix of pregnant women].

Most pregnant women who have Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) in the uterine cervix are asymptomatic. Several ways of detecting C.trachomatis were tested on 331 pregnant women, as well as 146 female patients attending our STD clinic as a control. 1) The detection rates for C.trachomatis in the cervix of pregnant women were 5.1% using the cell culture method, 2.4% with Micro Trak, and 2.2% employing Chlamydiazyme. These rates were higher in those patients visiting the STD clinic. 2) In pregnant women, the positive rate of Chlamydiazyme was 66.7% in the cell culture-positive cervical specimens, whereas Micro Trak was positive in 33.3%. 3) The antibody-positive rate was 84.6% in cases with PID caused by C.trachomatis. The antibody was found in only 17.7% of the pregnant women. Additionally, no significant correlation was noted between the antibody titer and C.trachomatis colonization in specimens obtained from the cervix of pregnant women. Although Micro Trak, Chlamydiazyme and possibly the microplate immunofluorescence antibody technique can be substituted for a cell culture method for detecting C.trachomatis in cases of symptomatic infection, these tests are not considered to be useful for screening Chlamydia-positive pregnant women.