Chlamydia trachomatis seropositivity during pregnancy

Chlamydia trachomatis infection in pregnant women can lead to serious maternal/neonatal antenatal or postnatal complications. The aim of this study was to find out the quantum of this problem in antenatal cases of Command Hospital, Kolkata. Antibodies to C. trachomatis by ELISA method were tested in sera of 24 pregnant women and 10 nonpregnant controls. Five (20.83%) and 3 (12.5%) were positive and borderline positive for IgM and 1 (4.17%) and 2 (8.33%) were positive and borderline positive respectively for IgG antibodies i.e. an overall positivity of 45.83%. Only 1 (10%) of the controls was positive for IgA antibodies. This study highlights the importance of performing this simple blood test for detecting C. trachomatis infection in antenatal cases, to treat the infected and prevent the complications.