What is Chlamydia?

Chlamydia Trachomatis is the most common cause of sexually transmitted venereal infection in the world, with an incidence estimated at 3 ~ 4 million cases per year in the United States. Chlamydia are composed of elementary bodies (the infectious form) and reticulate or inclusion bodies (the replication form) and comprise 15 known servers.

It is a major cause of cervicitis, urethritis, endometritis, and pelvic inflammatory disease in women. Serious complications can result in salpingitis, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. If transmitted to infants during birth, Chlamydia can cause conjunctivitis and pneumonia. 50~70% of infected women are asymptomatic, which makes diagnosis extremely important.

Chlamydia are related to gram-negative bacteria. They are intracellular in nature and are unable to synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The extracellular elementary body form is infectious while the intracellular reticulate form is metabolically active.