Chlamydial infection of the urethra in men.

Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from the uretha of 125 (52%) of 238 men with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU). Repeat isolation attempts in 155 of these patients were successful in eight men in whom results had been negative on the initial visit, but they were unsuccessful in eight men who initially had had positive cultures. We must assume that with our present isolation techniques we are missing, at any single visit, at least 9% of chlamydial infections.