Rapid diagnosis and treatment of chlamydial conjunctivitis.

During December 1989 to December 1992, conjunctival specimens from 63 patients with severe trachoma and 30 with acute follicular conjunctivitis at the eye clinic of Tong Ren Hospital in Beijing, were tested by using direct immunofluorescent technique and amplified enzyme-linked immunoassay (Micro Trak and IDEIA) for chlamydial antigenicity. Trachoma accounted for 97.6% while acute follicular conjunctivitis accounted for 2.4% of the positive cases. Micro Trak and IDEIA tests proved advantageous over the culture method for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis. In our study, Ofloxacin eye ointment has been proved to be an alternative drug for severe trachoma with better curative effectiveness.