Chlamydia and gonorrhea Genital PCR
A self-collected vaginal swab is the most preferred testing method for chlamydia and gonorrhea in asymptomatic females.
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) majorly impact women’s and men’s reproductive health. Among the different etiological agents of STIs, Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are the main bacterial pathogens that cause sexually transmitted infections in men and women.
Your doctor may suggest this test if he suspects any of the symptoms that lead to the diagnosis of STI, like pain during urination, abnormal discharge from genital organs, irritation and fever, etc.
The development of molecular techniques has dramatically transformed the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections. But the major hurdle to early detection of these STIs among asymptomatic women is the collection of vaginal and endocervical smears. (1)
Recent studies have found that vulvovaginal samples were more specific than endocervical samples for the detection of chlamydial infection in women with or without symptoms suggesting a bacterial sexually transmitted infection. A similar study concludes that vulvovaginal samples had the maximum sensitivity for the detection of gonorrheal infection.
Different studies indicate that a multiplex PCR is highly sensitive for detecting both C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae from a single genital swab, providing a more economical way of screening multiple pathogens. (2)
Figure 1: Technique of taking a vaginal swab
References:
(1) Anjana Krishnan, Sasidharanpillai Sabeena, Parvati V. Bhat, Veena Kamath, Maity Hindol, Vahid R. Zadeh, Govindakarnavar Arunkumar, Detection of genital chlamydial and gonococcal infection using urine samples: A community-based study from India, Journal of Infection and Public Health, Volume 11, Issue 1,2018, Pages 75-79, ISSN 1876-0341,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2017.04.006.
(2) Crotchfelt, K. A., Welsh, L. E., DeBonville, D., Rosenstraus, M., & Quinn, T. C. (1997). Detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis in genitourinary specimens from men and women by a co-amplification PCR assay. Journal of clinical microbiology, 35(6), 1536–1540. https://doi.org/10.1128/jcm.35.6.1536-1540.1997
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