Genital infection with TRIC agents in Taiwan

Agents of the trachoma-inclusion conjunctivitis type (TRIC agents) have been recovered from the ocular and genital tracts of men and women. This study is an attempt to define the prevalence of cervical TRIC agents in Taipei. Two of 86 pregnant Chinese women yielded TRIC agents one or more times. One infant developed inclusion conjunctivitis. None of 33 pregnant American women and one of 29 American and Chinese women attending family planning clinics in Taipei harbored cervical TRIC agents. Two of 59 prostitutes yielded the same cervical organisms. Only the pregnant women had significant cervicitis. None of the genital strains recovered were of the same two types of TRIC agent recovered on numerous occasions from ocular trachoma in Taiwan. The possibility that endemic ocular trachoma and genital TRIC agent infections are distinct etiologic entities is discussed.