69. LABORATORY CONTRIBUTION FOR CONTROL OF CHLAMYDIA

Abstract

Infection with Chlamydia trachomatis may present a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms in patients. Diagnosis based on presenting symptoms however may be of limited value in asymptomatic patients. Therefore, laboratory tests are utilized; in particular nucleic acid amplification technology (NAAT) based assays. In the recent years, NAAT testing has improved diagnosis of chlamydia to a great degree. The increased sensitivity of NAAT assays has also allowed for better detection of chlamydia in extragenital samples, diagnosis of lymphogranuloma venereum and has made the use of non-invasive self-collected samples possible. Chlamydia genotyping and sequence based comparisons are also increasingly being used in investigation of types present in the population as well as providing possibility of differentiating a new infection from re-infection. Such methods continue to play a major role not only in patient diagnosis but also in epidemiology and public health.