Chlamydial infections in obstetrics and gynaecology in Israel

Chlamydia trachomatis, an obligate intracellular bacterium, is the most frequent cause of sexually transmitted disease in the western countries. Similarly, among patients attending a sexually transmitted diseases clinic in Israel, the most prevalent pathogen found was Chlamydia trachomatis. The present review was aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of chlamydial infection during pregnancy and among gynaecological patients in Israel. A MEDLINE search using the key word "chlamydial infection" and "Israel" was performed. All relevant articles dealing with chlamydial infection in obstetrics and gynaecology were reviewed. Chlamydial infection during pregnancy is not rare and its incidence depends on the demographic structure of the population. Most parturients have sub-clinical or asymptomatic chlamydial infections during pregnancy. While controversy exists regarding the effects of maternal chlamydial infection on pregnancy outcome, no adverse pregnancy complications related to Chlamydia trachomatis were found in the Israeli studies. The majority of gynaecology patients with chlamydial infections were asymptomatic and the most significant clinical symptoms for chlamydial infections were purulent or mucoid discharge, bleeding and vaginitis. Further prospective studies are needed to investigate the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in the general population and during pregnancy, in particular; in order to verify pregnancy outcome following chlamydial infections.