Endocervical chlamydial infection in women attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic in Singapore.

Two hundred women attending the sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic at Middle Road Hospital were investigated. Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from 32% of women who were contacts of men with nongonococcal urethritis, 15% of contacts of gonococcal urethritis, 27% of contacts of unspecified STD, and 13% of women without any history of STD in their sex partners. Overall, Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from 17% of 200 women, Neisseria gonorrhoeae from 13% of 199 women, Candida albicans from 34% and Trichomonas vaginalis from 6% of 197 women. Three per cent of the patients had positive VDRL results. A history of bilateral lower abdominal pain and the presence of cervicitis were significantly associated with chlamydial infection. Forty one per cent of the 34 chlamydia-positive women were asymptomatic. The results of this study show that C. trachomatis infection is more common than infection with N. gonorrhoeae in women who attend STD clinics. The need for routine screening and treatment on the basis of epidemiological and clinical markers of infection has to be carefully examined.