C. trachomatis prevalent among young, pregnant women

LONDON — Chlamydia trachomatis infection is highly prevalent among pregnant French women aged 18 to 24 years, according to study results presented here.

“In France, screening for sexually transmitted infections is recommended in at-risk populations, excluding pregnant women for whom screening is performed only if the patient is symptomatic,” Cécile Bébear, MD, PhD, of the University of Bordeaux in France, told Infectious Disease News. “No recent data exist about the prevalence of C. trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhea and Mycoplasma genitalium infection in pregnant women.”

Bébear and colleagues conducted a prospective study on pregnant women who presented to the University of Bordeaux from January to June 2011. Women were aged 18 years or older and had not taken antibiotics within the past 3 weeks. Vaginal swabs were collected during pregnancy follow-up.

The cohort included 1,006 patients: 166 aged 18 to 24 years, 317 aged 25 to 29 years and 523 aged 30 years or older. Among the group aged 18 to 24 years, the prevalence rate of C. trachomatis was 7.9% compared with 1.3% in the group aged 25 to 29 years and 1.5% in the group aged 30 years and older. The prevalence among the entire group was 2.5%.

The prevalence of M. genitalium was 2.4% in the group aged 18 to 24 years, 0.6% in the group aged 25 to 29 years and 0.4% in the group aged 30 and older. The prevalence among the entire group was 0.8%. There was no prevalence of N. gonorrhea.

“These results highlight that pregnant women aged 18 to 24 years, who are mainly asymptomatic, represent a population at risk for C. trachomatis infections,” Bébear said. “A systematic screening test for C. trachomatis infection in pregnant women aged younger than 25 years could be recommended.”

Disclosure: Dr. Bébear reports no relevant financial disclosures.