[Ocular chlamydia infections in Munsterland. A clinical study of 409 patients]

We evaluated demographic data, McCoy cell cultures from conjunctival smears and chlamydia-specific IgG and IgA serum antibody titers in 409 patients (194 men and 212 women) suffering from (kerato)conjunctivitis of presumed bacterial etiology in 1988-1992. Overall, 105 patients were positive in culture and/or serology tests (78 in McCoy cell cultures, 45 in serology tests). In 33 patients (31%) corneal involvement was epithelial (5), subepithelial (13), phlyctenular (7) and/or took the form of pannus vasculosus (12). The incidence and severity of corneal signs correlated with the duration of the (kerato)conjunctivitis. Nasolacrimal duct complications were documented in 16 patients with a duration of illness exceeding 6 months. Some 33% of cases were recorded in May and June, a further 26% from November to January. The age groups primarily affected were: females 20-30 years (25%), males 30-40 years (25%). The highest number of new cases was registered in 1990.