The prevalence of chlamydia trachomatis among patients with acute conjunctivitis in Kasr Alainy ophthalmology clinic.

Introduction: Trachoma is a leading cause of avoidable blindness and endemic conjunctivitis in 57 countries. It infects approximately 84 million people globally, and continues to threaten over 10% of the world's population with the risk of blindness.

Methods: This is a cross sectional descriptive study assessing patients presenting with acute conjunctivitis. A full history was taken from patients followed by examination of both eyes. A conjunctival swab was taken and a sample of tears was collected and handled at the central laboratory unit at Kasr AlAiny hospital for culture and sensitivity of the swab and ELISA for tears searching for Immunoglobulin G and Immunoglobulin M of chlamydia trachomatis.

Results: The prevalence of bacterial conjunctivitis encounted for 45.7% and non-bacterial 54.3% of the studied group. The anti-chlamydial antibodies were positive in the tears of 31.1% of patients. While the other bacterial organisms responsible for 14.6%.

Conclusion: The study concluded that trachoma accounts for one third of the cases of acute conjunctivitis while the other bacterial organisms responsible for about 14.6%. More than half of the cases have other causes as viral, allergic, mechanical or chemical induced conjunctivitis.