Relationships between tonsillar Chlamydia trachomatis antigen and serum antibodies to C. trachomatis were studied from the ORL point of view.
C. trachomatis antigen in the tonsils was detected by the EIA method in 85 positive S-antibody femals and 39 of their males sexual partners. A total of 106 patients were found to have antibodies, including 54 patients with active infection. No antibody was detected in 18 males.
Of the 39 male partners, 21 (53.8%) had C. trachomatis antibodies in the serum. The percentage of males with antibodies was 78.3% of the partners of femaled with active infection and 18.8% of the partners of the females with inactive infection a significant difference between the two groups (χ2 test; p < 0.01).
The percentage of patients with antigens in the tonsis among the 39 pairs (78 patients) was 56.3% for the active infection group and 35.7% for the inactive infection group.Both males and females had antigens in 8 of the 39 pairs (20.5%), while only the male or only the female had antigens in 15 of the pairs (38.5%).
Most patients with positive S-antibody had only non-specific findings in the tonsils and pharynx.
C. trachomatis infection is an STD, and it is important to examine and treat patients together with their sexual partners.
