ADVANCES IN BIOLOGY, MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION OF INFECTIONS CAUSED BY CHLAMYDIA-TRACHOMATIS AND NEISSERIA-GONORRHOEAE

Neisseria gonorrhoeae and genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections are amongst the most common sexually transmitted diseases worldwide. They present similar clinical spectra in both women and men and are probably the leading cause of acquired infertility in women. Both are intracellular parasites, chlamydiae in an obligate form, gonococci facultatively. Progress in vaccine development is slow but advances in understanding the immunobiology and molecular genetics, and, hopefully, access to an experimental animal model, may ultimately lead to success. Today, the mainstay in the management and prevention, is epidemiological with the use of sensitive and specific diagnostic methods, effective antibiotic treatment, contact tracing, screening and identifying asymptomatic and high-risk individuals, in combination with other traditional and innovative disease-control strategies.