Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in an asymptomatic female population attending cervical cytology services of three healthcare centers in Medellín, Colombia

Monitoring Sexually Transmitted Infections in Cervicovaginal Exfoliative Samples in Mexican Women

Background. Globally, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are a major cause of morbidity in sexually active individuals, having complications in reproduction health and quality of life. In concordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Candida spp., Ureaplasma spp., Trichomonas vaginalis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, HSV, and Mycoplasma spp. from cervicovaginal samples and to correlate them with the gynecological history of the patients. Methods. Our analytical, prospective, and cross-sectional study included 377 women who participated in a reproductive health campaign during 2015–2016. Anthropometric and gynecological variables were obtained. Cervicovaginal specimens were collected and analyzed with a multiplex in-house PCR to detect Candida spp., Ureaplasma spp., Trichomonas vaginalis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, HSV, Mycoplasma spp., and Chlamydia trachomatis. Results. The positive cases were 175/377 (46.4%) to at least one of the microorganisms. The most frequent pathogen detected in this population was Ureaplasma spp. (n = 111, 29.4%), followed by Mycoplasma spp. (n = 56, 14.9%) and Candida spp. (n = 47, 12.5%); 33.7% of the positive cases were single infections, whereas 12.7% had coinfection. The multiplex PCR assay was designed targeting nucleotide sequences. Conclusions. Our data demonstrated that monitoring STIs among asymptomatic patients will encourage target programs to be more precisely and effectively implemented, as well as make these programs more affordable, to benefit society by decreasing the prevalence of STIs.

Atypical Pathogen Distribution in Chinese Hospitalized AECOPD Patients: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose

The proportion of atypical pathogens in patient with AECOPD within mainland China is unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine the distribution of atypical pathogens among Chinese patients with AECOPD, to evaluate the clinical characteristics of different atypical pathogen infections, and to compare different detection methods for atypical pathogens.

Patients and Methods

Specimens were collected from patients with AECOPD from March 2016 to November 2018 at eleven medical institutions in eight cities in China. Double serum, sputum, and urine samples were obtained from 145 patients. Serological and nucleic acid tests were used to assess for Mycoplasma pneumonia and Chlamydia pneumoniae; serological, urinary antigen, and nucleic acid tests were applied to detect Legionella pneumophila. The clinical characteristics of atypical pathogen-positive and -negative groups were also compared.

Results

The overall positivity rate for Mycoplasma pneumoniae was 20.69% (30/145), with the highest rate being 20.00% (29/145) when determined by passive agglutination.The overall positive rates for Chlamydia pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila were 29.66% (43/145) and 10.34% (15/145), respectively. The most common serotype of Legionella pneumophila was type 6. The maximum hospitalized body temperature, ratio of eosinophils, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and procalcitonin (PCT) level of the Mycoplasma pneumoniae-positive group were significantly higher than those of the Mycoplasma pneumoniae-negative group. Patients in the Chlamydia pneumoniae-positive group smoked more, had higher proportions of comorbidities and frequent aggravations in the previous two years than those in the Chlamydia pneumoniae-negative group. Furthermore, the forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity (FEV₁/FVC) ratio assessment of lung function was higher, and the concentration of arterial blood bicarbonate (HCO₃ ^-) was lower in the Legionella pneumophila-positive group than in the Legionella pneumophila-negative group.

Conclusion

Overall, atypical pathogens play an important role in AECOPD. Regarding the testing method, serological testing is a superior method to nucleic acid testing.