Interest of simultaneous Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae screening at the time of preabortion consultation

This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection among women consulting for abortion and to discuss screening for these pathogens in this population. Systematic CT/NG screening using real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed on cervical samples from 421 women who consulted for abortion over a 6-month period. Among the 421 women included, 13 had symptoms of gynecological infection, and 408 were asymptomatic. Only one of the symptomatic women was infected with CT (7.7%), and none of the women were infected with NG. Among the asymptomatic women, 40 were CT infected (9.8%), and three were NG infected. The overall prevalence was 9.7% for CT infection and 0.7% for NG infection. This population had a high prevalence of CT infection and a low prevalence of NG infection. Most infections were asymptomatic, which could justify systematic simultaneous screening for these two pathogens.