To determine the prevalence rates and serovar distribution
of
Chlamydia trachomatis
cervical infections in Cuban women,
two different groups were selected. Group I consisted of 60 human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV-1) seropositive women from different regions of Cuba and group II of
60 randomly selected women HIV seronegative and apparently healthy.
C. trachomatis
was detected in cervical scrapes by mean of nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
specific for major out membrane protein. The overall prevalence rate of
C.
trachomatis in cervical scrapes determined by nested PCR was 10% in group
I and the estimated prevalence was 6.6% for group II; 83.3% of HIV seropositive
women with
C. trachomatis infection reported history of pelvic inflammatory
disease followed by cervicitis (50%). The control group
C. trachomatis-infected
women referred a history of cervicitis in 75% of cases. Other reports in the latter
group included infertility and pelvic inflamatory disease in 50%. The present
study is the first report of
C. trachomatis prevalence in Cuba. It showed
that there was not significantly difference in the prevalence rate of
C. trachomatis
between both groups.
