Chlamydia

Most people who are infected with chlamydia do not know it.
  • Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the developing world. Currently, 140 million people are infected; 6 million are blind.
  • The same organism also causes a sexually transmitted disease with one of the highest rates of infection.
  • The rate of chlamydia infection is highest among females aged 15 to 24 years.

IDRI's Efforts

IDRI is working with GlaxoSmithKline to create and test a vaccine to help prevent chlamydia. Chlamydia is usually an asymptomatic disease, so those who are infected do not always seek available antibiotic treatment. A vaccine is needed to efficiently treat and eliminate chlamydia worldwide.

About Chlamydia

Chlamydia currently has one of the fastest rates of infection among sexually transmitted diseases in the developed world. If left untreated, chlamydia can ultimately result in infertility in both men and women. Although usually asymptomatic (more so in women than in men), symptoms that may occur include pelvic pain, burning during urination, abnormal vaginal bleeding, watery discharge from the penis, urethral itch, and burning during urination.

Chlamydia trachomatis also causes trachoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness. Trachoma develops after chlamydia comes into direct contact with the eye. There is no cure for trachoma, though there are studies to develop antibiotics to treat it.

Chlamydia trachomatis requires an intracellular environment in order to develop. Its developmental phase alternates between an infectious form and a replicative form. In the infectious form, chlamydia elementary bodies are able to travel between cells and infect them. Elementary bodies (EBs) penetrate host cells through a process that is stilll not understood. Once internalized, the EBs transform into reticulate bodies (RBs). RBs are the metabolically active, replicative form of chlamydia. After a short period, typically between 18and 60 hours, the RBs transform to EBs, pushing the host cell's nucleus aside. This expansion eventually destroys the host cell, and the newly formed EBs go on to infect other host cells.

What More is Needed to Stop Chlamydia?

Antibiotics are not enough to stop the spread of sexually-transmitted chlamydia. Vaccines are necessary to help curtail the spread of this disease. Greater access to care and treatment also need to be addressed. Like most other STDs, chlamydia infection increases the risk of HIV infection, which is yet another reason why it is vital to stop the spread of chlamydia.