Prevalence and Clinical Profile of Chlamydia trachomatis as a Cause of Urethritis in Filipinos: A Preliminary Report*

A study was done to determine the prevalence and clinical profile of Chlamydia trachomatis urethritis and cervicitis in Filipinos. Seventy three (41 males and 32 females) patients were included in the study. Of the 41 males, 17 were asymptomatic with 12 (70.7%) chlamydia-positive; 24 were symptomatic with 18 (75.0%) chlamydia-positive. Over-all isolation rate was 73.1%. Four of the symptomatic chlamydia-positive males were also positive for intracellular gram-negative diplococci on Gram's stain. Of the 32 females, 11 were asymptomatic with 6 (54.5%) chlamydia-positive; 24 were symptomatic with 11 (52.38%) chlamydia-positive. Overall isolation rate was 53.12%. Over-all isolation rate for both sexes combined was 64.38%. Contact tracing showed that in all cases, the males were either symptomatic or asymptomatic sources and of the 14 sources, there were 15 female contacts, 12 (80%) of whom were chlamydia-positive. Five of 7 (71.4%) pregnant patients were chlamydia-positive. All 7 were contacts of chlamydia-positive males. The results of the study showed that Chlamydia trachomatis is a common cause of urethritis and cervicitis i