Abstract
The prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis among asymptomatic pregnant women in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Delta State, Nigeria was investigated in this study. The four LGAs were Ethiope West, Sapele, Warri South and Warri North. A total of 200 pregnant women who visited the Primary Health Care Centres for antenatal care aged between 16 and 45 years were sampled across the four LGAs comprising 50 pregnant women from each of the LGAs between October 2017 and February 2018. The women were categorized into six age groups: 16 – 20, 21 – 25, 26 – 30, 31 – 35, 36 – 40 and 41 – 45. Collected urine samples were examined in the laboratory for the presence of C. trachomatis using sedimentation and microscopy. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was used to identify the DNA of the isolated bacteria specimens. Results from the four LGAs showed that 93 pregnant women (46.5%) tested positive for C. trachomatis. Prevalence was highest in the subjects from Warri North LGA (27/93) (29.03%), while the least prevalent was the subjects from Warri South (19/93) (20.04%). Women aged 26 – 30 had the highest prevalence (38/93) (40.86%), while prevalence was least in women aged 41 – 45 (3/93) (3.23%). There was no significant difference in number of infected pregnant women in the four Local Government Areas (p>0.05). Findings from this study are important, considering the growing concern of cases of infertility and death of newborn. Thus, there is a need for sexually active men and women to embark on routine check up to ascertain their health status.
Highlights
Chlamydia trachomatis is the etiological agent of the most common bacterial infection worldwide (Hoover et al, 2010)
Out of the 46.5% positive cases (Fig. 1), samples collected from Warri North Local Government Areas (LGAs) had the highest prevalence of 29.03% (27/93), while Warri South LGA had the least prevalence of 20.04% (19/93)
This study reports a prevalence of 46.5% (93/200) in the population sampled across four Local Government Areas of Delta State, Nigeria
Summary
Chlamydia trachomatis is the etiological agent of the most common bacterial infection worldwide (Hoover et al, 2010). Its virulence factor - the cell wall, has been characterized as Gram negative with a notable difference: it lacks muramic acid that is found in the walls of most other bacteria. This makes Chlamydia resistant to lactam antibiotics such as penicillin, because such antibiotics disrupt the typical cell wall which consist of muramic acid. Unrecognized and often inadequately treated chlamydial infections can ascend the reproductive tract in women and cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which often results in the devastating consequences of infertility, ectopic pregnancy or chronic pelvic pain and it causes urethritis and chronic prostatitis in men (Sherk, 2003; Falk et al, 2011). The urethra is the most common site of infection in males while urethra and cervix are commonly infected in females (Manavi, 2016)
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