Chlamydia trachomatis in iceland: Prevalence, clinico-epidemiological features and comparison of cobas 480 ct/ng and aptima combo 2 (ct/ng) for diagnosis

Abstract

The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of, and risk factors for, Chlamydia trachomatis in at-tendees recruited prospectively from October 2018 to January 2019 at the only sexually transmitted infections clinic in Iceland (in Reykjavík), and to eva-luate the cobas 4800 CT/NG Test and Aptima Combo 2 Assay for C. trachomatis detection in male urine and female vaginal swabs. Prevalence of C. trachomatis was 15.8% among 487 women and 13.6% among 491 men (no Neisseria gonorrhoeae positive patients were found). C. trachomatis detection was independently and positively associated with being tested for contact tracing, 18–24 years of age, and reporting ≥ 6 sexual partners within 12 months. Reporting sex with non-residents of Iceland was associated with a lower risk of C. trachomatis infection. Both assays had a high sen-sitivity in detection of C. trachomatis (Aptima Combo 2: 100%; cobas 4800 CT/NG: 95.1%) and high speci-ficity (100% and 99.6%, respectively). The high local prevalence of C. trachomatis and increased acquisition risk following sex with residents are of public health concern.