Occurrence of Chlamydia trachomatis in military environment on the example of professional soldiers in the Polish Armed Forces

Abstract

This article presents the results of a preliminary study concerning cases of Chlamydia trachomatis infections among professional soldiers in the Polish Armed Forces. Soldiers who declared casual sexual contact with women were investigated in this study regarding the transmission of chlamydial infections by sexual activity. In total, 66 healthy, sexually active professional Polish soldiers, aged between 27 and 44, who didn’t report any symptoms of urogenital infection were investigated. Urine samples taken from these patients were investigated using molecular methods (Cobas TaqMan, real-time PCR) in March–April 2012 in the Military Institute of Medicine, Warsaw, Poland. In the investigated group of 66 Polish soldiers, two 33–34 year old men were asymptomatic carriers of Chlamydia trachomatis (3.0%). They confirmed having casual sexual activity without prevention with many women. In the examined group of Polish soldiers the relatively low level of chlamydial infections found may result from the use of preventive measures during sexual activity. According to the examined men, the common use of condoms is mainly connected with the fear of HIV infection. Screening tests for Chlamydia trachomatis in the Polish Armed Forces are not performed, therefore incidence rates of chlamydial infections remain unknown. The authors plan further investigations with a larger group of professional soldiers.