New knowledge of chlamydiae and the diseases they cause

The trachoma and LGV organisms, the human pathogens of the species C. trachomatis, cause oculogenital infections and disease syndromes of the eye and genital tract. The incidence of the most prominent disease, endemic trachoma with eye-to-eye transmission, is decreasing all over the world. At the same time there is increasing recognition of high-frequency venereal infections with trachoma organisms and of the genital disease and occasional ocular disease that they cause. Laboratory techniques for diagnosis and investigation are improving, but work with these interesting intermediate agents remains more difficult than that with many other microorganisms. Proper recognition of the diseases is important because specific therapy is available.