A 2-year quantitative assessment of Chlamydia trachomatis in a sexually transmitted diseases clinic population by the MicroTrak direct smear immunofluorescence test.

The MicroTrak direct smear immunofluorescence test was used to determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis elementary bodies (EBs) in groups of patients in various clinical categories, most of whom were seen in a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Overall, 8138 adequate specimens were tested, of which 14.3% were found to contain chlamydial EBs. Of the samples from patients seen in the STD clinic, over 70% were from women and 14.9% of these were positive, as were 15.7% of those from men. EBs were detected in 27% of samples from infants and in 7.0% of those from adults with conjunctivitis. EBs were detected most often in men with nongonococcal urethritis (40.2%), infants with conjunctivitis (30%) and contacts of chlamydiae-positive patients (24.5%) and least often in 'prostatitis' (2.9%) and patients tested to determine the success of treatment (2.7%). Over 40% of samples from both the male urethra and the cervix contained 10 or fewer EBs, highlighting the importance of recognizing small numbers and the sensitivity required of other detection procedures.