Sero-Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis among HIV Patients and Healthy Female Volunteers in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Background: Chlamydios is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is the most prevalent bacterial Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) known to cause damage to a woman’s reproductive organs. The study was undertaken to determine the sero-prevalence of chlamydiosis among HIV patients and Healthy female volunteers in Port-Harcourt. The prevalence of chlamydiosis was investigated among 250 (150 HIV patients, and 100 Healthy volunteers) consented women of reproductive age attending Rivers State University Teaching Hospital in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent assay technique was performed to detect Chlamydia trachomatis IgG antibodies. The overall sero-prevalence of C. trachomatis in the among healthy volunteers was 10%, while that of HIV patents was 12.7%. HIV patients who were above 35 years accounted for 16% of the disease distribution. When prevalence was evaluated with the subgroups, there was no significant difference of Chlamydia trachomatis IgG antibodies across the subgroups (P>0.05). There was no association between socio-demographic factors and sero-prevalence of chlamydiosis. The possible risk factor for chlamydiosis base on life style was lack of screening for Chlamydia trachomatis (P<0.05) as a result of limited awareness of the infection by majority of the participants. Chlamydiosis is largely under diagnosed in the population. Therefore every sexually active woman irrespective of age is expected to undergo screening for chlamydia infection.