The duration of human ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection is age dependent

R. BAILEY; T. DUONG; R. CARPENTER; H. WHITTLE; D. MABEY

doi:10.1017/S0950268899003076

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We studied the relationship between age and prevalence, duration and incidence of clinical and laboratory evidence of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection in a cohort of Gambian subjects examined bi-weekly for 6 months. The duration of disease and infection, estimated by stratified survival analysis, proportional hazards regression and Weibull modelling, was markedly age-dependent. The estimated median duration of disease was 13·2 weeks in 0–4-year-old subjects and 1·7 weeks in those age 15 and over. Adjustment for multiple infections, and for missing observations did not alter this trend. The cumulative incidence rate of disease was reduced threefold with age. More rapid disease resolution is the main source of reduction in prevalence of active trachoma and ocular C. trachomatis infection with age; disease incidence was reduced to a lesser extent. This age-dependent resolution may be effected by adaptive cellular immune mechanisms. Mechanisms responsible for natural immunity should receive appropriate emphasis in vaccine design.

Crossref Citations

This article has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.

Emerson, P. M. Cairncross, S. Bailey, R. L. and Mabey, D. C. W. 2000. Review of the evidence base for the ‘F’ and ‘E’ components of the SAFE strategy for trachoma control. Tropical Medicine & International Health, Vol. 5, Issue. 8, p. 515.

Igietseme, Joseph U. Black, Carolyn M. and Caldwell, Harlan D. 2002. Chlamydia Vaccines. BioDrugs, Vol. 16, Issue. 1, p. 19.

Burton, MJ Frick, KD Bailey, RL and Bowman, RJC 2002. Azithromycin for the treatment and control of trachoma. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, Vol. 3, Issue. 2, p. 113.

Igietseme, Joseph U Eko, Francis O and Black, Carolyn M 2003. Contemporary approaches to designing and evaluating vaccines against Chlamydia. Expert Review of Vaccines, Vol. 2, Issue. 1, p. 129.

GHAEM-MAGHAMI, S RATTI, G GHAEM-MAGHAMI, M COMANDUCCI, M HAY, P E BAILEY, R L MABEY, D C W WHITTLE, H C WARD, M E and LEWIS, D J M 2003. Mucosal and systemic immune responses to plasmid protein pgp3 in patients with genital and ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Vol. 132, Issue. 3, p. 436.

Mabey, Denise and Solomon, Anthony 2003. The effect of antibiotic treatment on active trachoma and ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy, Vol. 1, Issue. 2, p. 209.

Mabey, David CW Solomon, Anthony W and Foster, Allen 2003. Trachoma. The Lancet, Vol. 362, Issue. 9379, p. 223.

White, Richard G Orroth, Kate K Korenromp, Eline L Bakker, Roel Wambura, Mwita Sewankambo, Nelson K Gray, Ron H Kamali, Anatoli Whitworth, James A. G Grosskurth, Heiner Habbema, J Dik F and Hayes, Richard J 2004. Can Population Differences Explain the Contrasting Results of the Mwanza, Rakai, and Masaka HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease Intervention Trials?. JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Vol. 37, Issue. 4, p. 1500.

West, Sheila K 2004. Trachoma: new assault on an ancient disease. Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, Vol. 23, Issue. 4, p. 381.

Numazaki, Kei 2004. Current problems of perinatal Chlamydia trachomatisinfections. Journal of Immune Based Therapies and Vaccines, Vol. 2, Issue. 1,

Faal, N Bailey, R L Sarr, I Joof, H Mabey, D C W and Holland, M J 2005. Temporal cytokine gene expression patterns in subjects with trachoma identify distinct conjunctival responses associated with infection. Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Vol. 142, Issue. 2, p. 347.

Wright, Heathcote R and Taylor, Hugh R 2005. Clinical examination and laboratory tests for estimation of trachoma prevalence in a remote setting: what are they really telling us?. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Vol. 5, Issue. 5, p. 313.

Burton, Matthew J Holland, Martin J Makalo, Pateh Aryee, Esther AN Alexander, Neal DE Sillah, Ansumana Faal, Hannah West, Sheila K Foster, Allen Johnson, Gordon J Mabey, David CW and Bailey, Robin L 2005. Re-emergence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection after mass antibiotic treatment of a trachoma-endemic Gambian community: a longitudinal study. The Lancet, Vol. 365, Issue. 9467, p. 1321.

D'Amaral, Rosa Kazuye Koda Cardoso, Maria Regina Alves Medina, Norma Helen Cunha, Isabel Cristina Kowal Olm and Waldman, Eliseu Alves 2005. Fatores associados ao tracoma em área hipoendêmica da Região Sudeste, Brasil. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Vol. 21, Issue. 6, p. 1701.

Alexander, Neal and Emerson, Paul 2005. Analysis of incidence rates in cluster-randomized trials of interventions against recurrent infections, with an application to trachoma. Statistics in Medicine, Vol. 24, Issue. 17, p. 2637.

Peeling, Rosanna W. Mabey, David Herring, Alan and Hook, Edward W. 2006. Why do we need quality-assured diagnostic tests for sexually transmitted infections?. Nature Reviews Microbiology, Vol. 4, Issue. S12, p. S7.

Taylor, Hugh R and Wright, Heathcote R 2006. Dip-stick test for trachoma control programmes. The Lancet, Vol. 367, Issue. 9522, p. 1553.

Schémann, Jean-François and West, Sheila 2006. Lutte contre le trachome en Afrique subsaharienne. p. 60.

Wright, Heathcote R Keeffe, Jill E and Taylor, Hugh R 2006. Trachoma and the Need for a Coordinated Community-Wide Response: A Case-Based Study. PLoS Medicine, Vol. 3, Issue. 2, p. e41.

Download full list

Article contents

The duration of human ocular Chlamydia trachomatis infection is age dependent

Abstract

Save article to Kindle

Save article to Dropbox

Save article to Google Drive

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

You have entered the maximum number of contributors

Conflicting interests