Epidemiological study of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnant women in Hungary.

A multicentre survey was carried out in order to determine the prevalence and risk factors of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in the pregnant population in Hungary. The nucleic acid hybridisation method (PACE 2 Gen-Probe) was applied for the examination of C trachomatis. The overall average prevalence of C trachomatis cases during an 18 month survey on 6161 pregnant women was 5.87%. There were significant differences in the proportions of chlamydial infection in the different survey centres, and also in the different age groups and the different family status groups. The perinatal mortality rate exhibited a significantly higher prevalence (8.52%) among C trachomatis positive than among negative patients (2.03%). In the anamnestic histories of C trachomatis infected patients, the frequency of premature uterine activity was 8.13%, in contrast with 5.18% in the non-infected group (p < 0.05). We suggest that all pregnant women be tested for C trachomatis infection.