Related Experiment Videos
[Isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis in trachomatous Moroccan patients]
B Takourt1, A Milad, F Radouani
1Laboratoire des Chlamydiae, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, Casablanca, Maroc.
Purpose:
Isolation of Chlamydia trachomatis from ocular specimens of subjects living in trachomatous area in south Morocco.
Methods:
One hundred and twenty ocular specimen of 60 subjects living in two provinces of a trachoma-endemic area (Errachidia and Ouarzazate) were tested by cells culture. The age range was 2 months to 85 years and the sex ratio was 1.06.
Results:
The prevalence of positive cases was about 25% with a female predominance of 34% versus 16% for males. In our sample, 70% showed an active clinical trachoma. The most affected age ranges were children between 0 and 10 years old, with a very high frequency of isolation in children younger than 5 years. The intense inflammatory stage alone or associated with follicular stage was the most adequate for isolating Chlamydia trachomatis.
Conclusion:
Reducing or even eradicating trachoma can be realised only through a continuous treatment strategy associated with a sanitary education aiming at the development of hygienic conditions especially among children living in trachomatous communities.