Chlamydias pathogenic for man –  their significance for gynaecological- obstetric and urological practice

Overview

Even though some of the infections caused by chlamydias have been clinically known for a long time, e. g. trachoma, lymphogranuloma venereum and ornitosis, their occurrence in the Czech Republic and in other advanced countries is nil or very rare. On the other hand, it has been shown in recent years that infections caused by Chlamydia trachomatis D– K biovars are the most frequently sexually transmissible urogenital infections. Chlamydophila pneumoniae has been known for only a little over 10 years, but it is already known to asymptomatically infect the whole population with growing age, and is probably the cause of as much as 10 % of community pneumonias. Laboratory verification of clinical suspicion of chlamydia infection is not always easy, and overestimation of one single positive serologic finding often leads to unnecessary antibiotic treatment.

Key words:
Chlamydia trachomatis –  Chlamydophila psittaci –  Chlamydophila pneumoniae