Background: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of C. trachomatis in infertile and fertile women in Sanandaj (Kurdistan, Iran).
Methods: 104 infertile women referring to Clinic-affiliated Besat hospital in Sanandaj (Kurdistan, Iran) from February to May 2013 were selected as the case group and 104 fertile women with at least one child who referred to non-infertility clinics at the same time were included as the control group. Dacron Swabs were used for sampling from the end cervical canal of women. Cervical swabs were transported to laboratory in 5 mL of Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) medium and were frozen at -20oC until examination. DNA was extracted from samples using DNA extraction kit and subjected to Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using C. trachomatis specific primers. Statistical analysis was performed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software version 13.0 for Microsoft windows.
Results: The age ranging for both groups was 14-40 (average age 31.63 years for fertile group and 29.16 years old for infertile patients). In fertile group 6 cases (5.76 %) were positive for C. trachomatis while infertile group, C. trachomatis was detected from 5 patients (4.80 %).
Conclusion: Prevalence of C. trachomatis infection in the two studied groups was almost the same and no significant difference between fertile and infertile groups was observed. According to available resources, in communities where the relative frequency is higher than 4%; screening is recommended. Hence, in order to to reduce the burden of C. trachomatis, screening can be considered as a part of the national health programs.