Objectives: Better information on the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) infection is needed in many world areas.
Study design: Cross-sectional study of population-based samples of nonpregnant women aged 15 to 44 years in Nigeria, Colombia, Argentina, Vietnam (2 areas), China, Thailand (2 areas), Korea, and Spain. 5,328 consenting women aged 15 to 44 years participated. Exfoliated cervical cells were collected and testing for CT and NG and human papillomavirus (HPV) was done using PCR-based assays.
Results: Age-standardized CT prevalence ranged between 0.2% (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.0-0.7%) in Spain and 5.6% (95% CI: 3.4-7.8%) in Nigeria. NG ranged between 0% (with broad CIs) in several areas and 2.6% (95% CI: 1.0-4.2%) in Nigeria. Prevalence of CT in all areas combined was greater in women aged 15 to 24 (4.5; 95% CI: 3.4-5.8%) than 25 to 44 (2.6; 95% CI: 2.1-3.1%), whereas NG prevalence was similar in the 2 age groups (0.3%). The only significant risk factors were NG infection (for CT), CT infection (for NG) and infection with high-risk HPV types (for both).
Conclusions: The prevalence of CT and, most notably, NG was relatively low in a variety of countries. Our findings, however, do not apply to subsets of high-risk women who are likely to be underrepresented in our population-based samples.