Chlamydial infections. Microbiological, clinical and diagnostic aspects.

The agent of trachoma, originally regarded as a virus, was described by Halberstadter and von Prowacek in 1907. Since then, studies on Chlamydiae have shown that they are procaryocytic organisms that infect eucaryocytic cells as obligate intracellular parasites. Infections caused by these pathogenic agents occur in a wide range of avian and mammalian species. Chlamydiae are also responsible for several diseases in man, and there is a rapidly growing awareness of their public health significance. The aims of this review are to describe the microbiology and laboratory diagnosis of Chlamydiae and to reflect the clinical spectrum of human chlamydial diseases.