Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and bacterial vaginosisin women presenting to the early pregnancy unit

Summary

A total of 674 women attending the early pregnancy unit during the study period were offered screening with high vaginal and endocervical swabs and 516 agreed to participate in the study. The overall prevalence of chlamydia was 1.96% (95% CI 0.9 – 3.6). Some 10.5% were under the age of 25 years and the prevalence in this group was 1.85% (95% CI 0.05 – 9.9). The overall prevalence of bacterial vaginosis was 3.5% (95% CI 2.2 – 5.5). The prevalence of common genital infections is low in a population of women presenting to the early pregnancy unit. This is of relevance to women having surgical evacuation for miscarriage and randomised trials should be undertaken to evaluate the role of prophylactic antibiotics for such cases.