Testing for Chlamydia trachomatis: time trends in positivity rates in the canton of Basel-Stadt, Switzerland

Abstract

SUMMARYNational health statistics report a 2·5-fold increase in laboratory-confirmed Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) cases over the last decade in Switzerland where no CT screening programme exists. We obtained essential denominator information to describe the epidemiology of CT in the canton of Basel-Stadt, an urban canton in north-western Switzerland. Laboratories reporting at least two CT infections from Basel-Stadt residents to the SFOPH in 2010 provided demographic and test-related data. CT positivity rates were calculated for 2002–2010. The influences of test year, age, sex and laboratory on CT positivity were investigated in a multivariable model. Positivity differed between sexes and age groups. In our sample of 32 034 records, female and male CT positivity rates were 4·7% and 11·1%, respectively. Test year was significantly associated with test outcome in the multivariable analysis but no time trend was observed. CT positivity did not change over the past 9 years in Basel-Stadt. In contrast to other European countries without CT screening, we found no evidence that the observed increase of Chlamydia cases in the national notification system represents an epidemiological trend, but rather results from an increased testing frequency.

Who should be screened for Chlamydia trachomatis infection? Three years' experience at a University Hospital in Switzerland

“…The positivity rate for CT found in our analysis is consistent to what was found in another study in the Swiss cantons of Valais and Vaud [13], but slightly lower to what was found in the canton of Basel-Stadt [14], where the CT positivity rates were 4.7% and 11.2% for female and male samples, respectively. CT rates were found to be variable according to country, gender, age, and the degree of screening coverage [15], ranging from 3% (United Kingdom) to 5% (Slovenia) among women and 0.4% (Germany) to 5% (Slovenia) among men in a literature review published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control [15].…”

“…CT rates were found to be variable according to country, gender, age, and the degree of screening coverage [15], ranging from 3% (United Kingdom) to 5% (Slovenia) among women and 0.4% (Germany) to 5% (Slovenia) among men in a literature review published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control [15]. The peak of CT infection in terms of age groups was consistent among studies [13][14][15] and similar to our data. The rate of NG co-infection with CT was similar to other publications [5,6], but it is known to vary considerably, depending on the setting and the background prevalence of these STIs.…”

Seroprevalence and genotype of Chlamydia in pet parrots in China

“…Chlamydia seroprevalence in pigs, cattle, dogs, cats and humans has been widely reported throughout the world [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15], but there is limited information about Chlamydia infection in parrots available, and no such information is available for parrots in China. In this survey, we investigated the seroprevalence of Chlamydia infection in budgerigars, lovebirds, cockatiels and Alexandrine parakeets in Beijing and Weifang cities, north China, and determined the genotype of Chlamydia shed in faeces from these popular pet birds.…”

Do changes in STEC diagnostics mislead interpretation of disease surveillance data in Switzerland? Time trends in positivity, 2007 to 2016

“…We use the term positivity as the rate of number of positive tests to the total number of tests performed for STEC [ 15 , 16 ]. Positivity was calculated for different demographic groups, test methods, spatial (i.e.…”