Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28934342›Full record

Observational studyPloS one2017

Monitoring therapy success of urogenital Chlamydia trachomatis infections in women: A prospective observational cohort study.

Bart Versteeg, Sylvia M Bruisten, Titia Heijman, Wilma Vermeulen, Martijn S van Rooijen, Alje P van Dam, Maarten F Schim van der Loeff, Henry J C de Vries, Maarten Scholing

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Laboratory detection methods for Chlamydia trachomatis infection in children: a review.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. PersistentInternational journal of STD & AIDS · 2020
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Observational
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Bart VersteegDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2606-8057
Sylvia M BruistenDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Titia HeijmanDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Wilma VermeulenDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Martijn S van RooijenDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Alje P van DamDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Maarten F Schim van der LoeffDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Henry J C de VriesDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Maarten ScholingDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
GGD Amsterdam · NLAmsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam · NLOLVG · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe use of a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) as a test of cure after treatment is subject to discussion, as the presence of C. trachomatis nucleic acids after treatment may be prolonged and intermittent without presence of infectious bacteria. We used cell culture to assess if a positive RNA- or DNA-based NAAT after treatment indicates the presence of viable C. trachomatis.

methodsWe included women with asymptomatic urogenital C. trachomatis infection visiting the Amsterdam STI clinic from September 2015 through June 2016. Endocervical swabs were collected prior to treatment with azithromycin, and during three follow-up visits 7, 21 and 49 days after treatment. Collected swabs were subjected to C. trachomatis culture and a RNA- and DNA-based NAAT. High-resolution multilocus sequence typing (hr-MLST) was used to further differentiate potential re-infections.

resultsWe included 90 women with a positive RNA-test prior to receiving treatment of whom 81 (90%) were also DNA-positive, and 69 (76.7%) culture-positive. Prolonged and intermittent positive RNA and DNA results over time were observed. Three women had culture positive results at the second visit, but all were negative at the third visit. Five women had NAAT-positive results at the fourth visit of whom three women were also culture-positive indicating a viable infection. All five women reported unprotected sexual contact since the first visit. From 2, hr-MLST sequence types were obtained. One had a different sequence type indicating a new infection the other was identical to the previously found indicating a potentially persisting infection.

conclusionMost RNA- or DNA-positive results after treatment of urogenital C. trachomatis may be caused by non-viable molecular remnants since they cannot be confirmed by culture. In a minority viable C. trachomatis was found in culture at the second visit, indicating that patients may remain infectious at least 7 days after treatment.

Indexed as

Chlamydia InfectionsChlamydia trachomatisDNA, BacterialFemaleHumansMicrobial ViabilityProspective StudiesRNA, BacterialTreatment OutcomeYoung AdultDNA, BacterialRNA, Bacterial

Identifiers

PMID28934342
PMCPMC5608402
OpenAlexW2754825813

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.