Neonatal chlamydial eye infection: an epidemiological and clinical study

SUMMARY Neonatal chlamydial eye infection was detected in 39 cases of 281 infants with purulent conjunctivitis seen at the Department of Ophthalmology. Most cases of neonatal chlamydial eye infection (90%) were detected during the first month of life, and no case was found after 2 months of age. C. trachomatis was not isolated from any of 161 healthy control infants at 3-4 weeks of age. Genital chlamydial infection was demonstrated in 50 % of the mothers to infected infants. Two of these women developed post-partum complications possibly due to chlamydial infection. Mothers of infected infants tended to be younger than average. Of 23 cases examined 2 years later, late sequelae were identified in 3. Chlamydia trachomatis was first isolated from the eyes of an infant with neonatal conjunctivitis in 1959.' The organism could also be recovered from the uterine cervix of the mother of an infected infant. Inoculation of volunteers with the isolated agent caused clinical signs similar to acute trachoma with typical cellular inclusions.2 Inclusion conjunctivitis i