Date
2017Journal
Journal of Infectious DiseasesPublisher
Oxford University PressType
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Based on recent, historical, and circumstantial evidence, we present a multifactorial hypothesis that has potential direct implications on the epidemiology and management of chlamydial infection and disease in humans. We propose that (1) like its veterinary relatives, the oculogenital pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis evolved as a commensal organism of the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract primarily transmissible via the fecal-oral route; (2) in the modern era, C. trachomatis causes "opportunistic" infection at non-GI sites under conditions driven by improved sanitation/hygiene and reduced fecal-oral transmission; and (3) the rise in the practice of oral sex is contributing to the increased prevalence of C. trachomatis in the human GI tract. Infectious organisms produced in the GI tract and reaching the rectum may then chronically contaminate and infect the female urogenital tract, thereby potentially contributing to the most serious sequelae of chlamydial infection in women: pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and tubal factor infertility. Copyright 2017 The Author.Sponsors
This work was supported by the NIH-NIAID-STI CRC (grant number U19 AI084044).Identifier to cite or link to this item
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85038228982&doi=10.1093%2finfdis%2fjix419&partnerID=40&md5=0e717a63bee7785293f10b970eed1174; http://hdl.handle.net/10713/11110ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/infdis/jix419
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- Chlamydia trachomatis: impact on human reproduction.
- Authors: Paavonen J, Eggert-Kruse W
- Issue date: 1999 Sep-Oct
- Genital chlamydial infections: epidemiology and reproductive sequelae.
- Authors: Cates W Jr, Wasserheit JN
- Issue date: 1991 Jun
- Chlamydia trachomatis: the Persistent Pathogen.
- Authors: Witkin SS, Minis E, Athanasiou A, Leizer J, Linhares IM
- Issue date: 2017 Oct
- Chlamydial serology among patients with tubal factor infertility and ectopic pregnancy in Alexandria, Egypt.
- Authors: Mehanna MT, Rizk MA, Eweiss NY, Ramadan M, Zaki SA, Sadek A, Chow JM, Schachter J
- Issue date: 1995 Sep-Oct
- Chlamydia trachomatis infections: screening, diagnosis, and management.
- Authors: Mishori R, McClaskey EL, WinklerPrins VJ
- Issue date: 2012 Dec 15