Treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis infections in pregnant women

Abstract

The intent of this article is to provide an overview of the epidemiology and pharmacotherapy, including cost analyses, of Chlamydia trachomatis infections in pregnant women. Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection. For pregnant women, there are concerns both for the mother (post-partum endometritis, horizontal transmission) and the newborn (conjunctivitis, delayed pneumonia). Therapeutic options are restricted because of the fetus and include multi-day treatment with erythromycin, amoxicillin, clindamycin or single dose azithromycin. Clinical cure rates with these options are 86, 92, 93 and 95%, respectively. Pharmacoeconomic analyses have been conducted to determine if the initial increase in acquisition cost of azithromycin (approximately 3-fold higher than erythromycin or amoxicillin) is offset by improvement in compliance and drug efficacy. Clindamycin has received little attention because of its expense (4-fold more than azithromycin). Analyses have been retrospective. As models incorporate more complications of failure to cure, azithromycin increasingly becomes more cost effective and is our recommended treatment.