The Prevalence of Chlamydia Infections, How to Control & Eradicate It
Chapter One
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
- To determine the prevalence of Chlamydia infection.
- To ascertain the age distribution of the infection.
- To determine the sex distribution of the infection.
- To make recommendations on how to control or eradicate the infection.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Chlamydiae are obligated intra-cellular prokaryotic parasites of eukaryotic cells. This implies that these organisms can survive only by establishing within the epithetical cell of the human or animal cells. The reason for this intracellular parasitism is the fact that chlamydiae are energy parasites i.e. they require an energy source for replication and survival.
All human cells have specific system that they use to form ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is the major source of energy. Chlamydiae have a cell membrane transport system that ‘steal’ ATP from the host cells.
Chlamydiae are considered as bacteria for the following reasons:
- Like bacteria, they posses both RNA and DNA.
- They multiply by binary fission.
- They have rigid cell wall resembling the bacteria cell wall but lacks muramic acid and is not susceptible to lysozyme action.
- They posses ribosomes.
- They have a variety of metabolically active enzymes example they can liberatec Co2from glucose. Some can be synthesized folates .
- Their growth can be inhibited by many anti-microbial drugs, especially tetracycline and erythromycin.
As a result of their unique development cycle these micro-organisms have been classified into a separate order, chlamydiales, with one family containing one genius, Chlamydia. There are three species, C. psittaci, C. Pneumoniae and C. trachomatis. The focus of this review is on. trachomatis the aetiologic agent of urethitis, cervicits, prostatitis, trachoma, inclusion conjunctivitis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Others includes; Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), Reiter’s disease and infant pneumonia, salpingitis.
This species is divided into several serological varieties (serovars) ranging A-K.
The serovars implicated in both men and women for urethritis are serovars D-K which are associated with genital tract infections. (peeling, et al., 1996)
DEVELOPMENTAL CYCLE OF CHLAMYDIA
Chlamydiae have a unique biphasic life cycle that is adaptable to both intracellular and extracellular environments.
- Elementary Body (EB): this is the small infections metabolically adapted for surviving outside the cell. The EB prevents phagosome-lysozyme fusion and then undergoes reorganization to form a reticulate body (RB).
- Reticulate body (RB): The larger intracellular from, non-infectious metabolically active, replicate form that is unstable out of the cell.
The elementary body is adapted for extracellular survival and infection but does not replicate. It is relatively resistant to the usual method of disinfections (sonication) and trypsin treatment and is relatively impermeable. The organism have special preference for columnar epithelia cells.
After attachment, the elementary bodies are endocytosed (engulfed) by the host cell and once inside the cell, the EB loses its infectivity and undergoes a number of changes associated with its transition to reticulate body. Continued development occurs with the formation of a cytoplasmic vacuole bounded by the host cell membrane which continues to increase in size though protein synthesis in the cell is inhibited (similar to the invasion of cells by viruses). Therefore, chlamydiae are secluded into their own ‘shell’ within the cell. Endocytosis and growth within the vacuole do not incite phagolysosomal fusion which normally forms the basis for the subsequent killing of any foreign agent directed against the cell integrity (Stamm, et al., 1994). Therefore, chlamydiae escape the normal cell defence mechanism.
The reticulate body divides by binary fussion (i.e. it split into two) resulting in 4-6 reticulate bodies within the vacuole in 8-12 hours. The inclusion within the cell increase in number and begin the displace the nucleus. After 48-60 hours approximately 100 or more elementary bodies rupture extracellularly to release the particles.
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
MATERIALS:
Chlamydia kit (Batch No: L16794, Manufacturing Date: 30th November 2009, Expiry Date: 30th November 2010) Used for this research was bought from Onitsha main market in the month of March 2010.
OTHER MATERIALS INCLUCDES;
- Marked tile.
- Plain bottle.
- Bulb of a test-tube.
- Disposable plastic pipette.
Patients blood samples were collected on a plain bottle from different hospitals/Laboratories in Enugu between the months Of March and July 2010 as shown as the tables below.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
Results obtained from the analysis are shown in the tables below:
Table 4: Result of Age Distribution of the Infection.
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
DISCUSSION:
From the result obtained, 3 (1.2%) female had the infection while 1 (0.4%) male had the infection.
The infection was more in the age group 21-30 followed by the age 0-10. None was recorded for the age group 11-20,31-40, 41-50 and 61-above. Male who had the infection was in the age of 0-10 while female with the infection was in the age group 21-30.
Both sexes in group 11-20, 31-40,41-50, 51-60, and 61-above their males and females had no infection.
It is passed to the newborn during child birth this may have given the reason why somebody in the group 0-10 had this infection. This is in agreement with world Health Organizations report which estimated 140 million cases of Chlamydia trachomatis infection worldwide.
The highest incidence 2(0.8%) recorded among age group 21-30 may be because of sexual promiscuity.
RECOMMENDATION
The following recommendations are made based on the findings of this project work.
- Government should ensure public health education/ awareness campaign to improve the health of living of her citizens.
- They should be inclusion of chlamydia trachomatisdiagnosis among routine laboratory diagnosis especially among pregnant women attending antenatal.
- Infected patients should be treated especially pregnant women to avoid mother to child transmission
- Avoidance of casual sex and the use of preventive measures such as condoms
CONCLUSION
In conclusion analysis of 251 samples for Chlamydia trachomatis were revealed that 3 (1.2%) were positive and 248 (98.8%) were negative.
Among the positive 1 (0.4%) male and 2 (0.8%) female distributed among age group 0-11 and 21-30 only.
Considering the medical importance of this infection, efforts should be made in eradicating it.
REFERNCES
- Barners, B.C (1990).infections caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 152.18
- Bowden, F.J. (1998). Reappraising the value of urine leukocyte esterase testing in the age of nucleic acid amplification. Sexually Transmitted Disease. 25;322- 326.
- Bryan, TD.G. Hammers, K.m, and Kandner R.T, (1996). Chlamydia. Essentials of Medical Microbiology 5th
- CDC ST Treatment guidelines, May 2002 C DC Atlanta (for clinics).
- Chernesky, M.A., Chong,Yang, D., Luistro, K., Sellors, Y., Mahony, J.B. (1997). Ability of commercial ligase chain reaction and PCR assays to diagnose chamydia trachomatis infections in men by testing first-void urine. Journal of clinical Micribiology. 33; 982-984.
