Infections due to Chlamydia

Screening to reduce transmission of sexually transmitted diseases in semen used for artificial insemination

The practice of artificial insemination by donor semen is increasing in the United States. Many sexually transmitted organisms are found in semen, but screening procedures for the detection of these agents in donor semen have not been standardized. Sexually transmitted organisms have been transmitted during artificial insemination by donor, and such transmission can cause local, disseminated, or fatal disease in the recipient woman and may harm the fetus or newborn. Therefore, screening of both the donor and the donated semen is necessary to avoid infectious complications. Because semen samples cannot be evaluated completely on the day of donation, the use of fresh semen for artificial insemination should be discouraged. Until accurate, rapid diagnostic tests are available, only frozen semen that has been appropriately screened should be used.

Chlamydia trachomatis cervical infections in female adolescents

To determine the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis cervical infection in an urban adolescent population, 100 sexually active female adolescents were screened with endocervical cultures for Chlamydia, in addition to bacterial cultures, Gram stains, wet mounts, and Papanicolau smears. C. trachomatis was isolated from 22% of these patients. Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated from only 3% of this population. No historical or clinical features were specific to those with positive chlamydial cultures, although cervical inflammations was noted more frequently. Treatment with tetracycline or erythromycin produced bacteriologic cure in 95% of culture-positive patients.