Solid phase enzyme immunoassay for detection of non-complicated cervical infection with Chlamydia trachomatis

To evaluate the usefulness of a solid phase enzyme immunoassay for diagnosis of cervical chlamydial infections, cervical smear samples from 246 women were tested using the assay and cell culture. The overall sensitivity of the assay was 67% and the specificity 92.4%. The sensitivity of the immunoassay was 54% in samples with chlamydial culture with less than 20 inclusions per slide. Thus the enzyme immunoassay failed to detect chlamydial infections in nearly half of the patients with a low amount of chlamydial antigen.