Urogenital chlamydia trachomatis infection among prisoner men

Objectives: Chlamydia trachomatis (C.trachomatis) is one of the most common curable STDs. Little information is available on its incidence among prisoner men. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of urogenital infection with C.trachomatis among imprisoned men as a high risk group. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 130 imprisoned men aged 16-49 years in one of Tehran prisons were randomly selected. After completing informed consent, each volunteer dedicated a urine sampler and a completed questionnaire. DNA extraction and PCR assay were performed in Avicenna Research Institute. Results: Among the 130 prisoner men, only 3 (2.3%) had positive PCR test results. Mean age of participants was 28.00 4.58 and the mean age at first sexual contact was 20.33 3.51. All had at least elementary education while 66.7% were unmarried and 33.3% were unemployed and had less than 1000000 Rails per month. Moreover, 33.3% were homeless and others living in rental houses. Furthermore, 66.6% had more than 4 sexual partners. There was no difference in condom use and none of them mentioned urinary discharge or dysuria. Additionally, 66.6% were IVDU and had more than 3 prison admissions. There was no report of HIV, HCV or HBV infection among them. Conclusion: The low incidence of C.trachomatis in this study showed that screening of asymptomatic men by PCR is not cost-effective and in order to obtain more epidemiological information, low-cost techniques such as serological methods can be recommended. Moreover, studies with broader distribution and higher sample size should be performed to determine real prevalence of chlamydia infection and make a definite decision about screening.