Objectives The data about the prevalence sexually transmitted infection (STI) as Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) among the Russian population is limited and controversial. This information is of great scientific and health care interest. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of genital CT infection among male attendees of the urologist's office in STI clinics in St. Petersburg and the role of molecular tests in low-resource settings.

Methods The prospective, multicenter study was undertaken throughout urologist's offices in St. Petersburg during the January 2007—December 2009 timeframe. Urethral samples from 907 men (mean age 31.7 years), who were seeking to be routinely tested for STIs and with no HIV, gonorrhoea, syphilis and Trichomonas vaginalis detected in the time of study, were collected to be tested for CT infection by culture and in-house RT-PCR assays in St. Petersburg and to be confirmed in Amsterdam.

Results The results are presented in the Abstract P1-S1.30 table 1. In total CT infection was found in 6.4% of men tested by RT-PCR. Urethral specimens were tested by culture and RT-PCR assays for CT finding positivity rates of 2.2% (n=466 culture samples) and 7.6% (n=804 RT-PCR samples). Use of only culture test would result in missing up to 60% of CT+ cases (p<0.0001). Symptoms were presented in 48% of CT+ men. CT was less often detected in men reporting previous CT infection, as compared with first CT infection—4.3% vs 7.4% (p=0.0475). Only 14/907 (1.5%) questioned men openly reported being MSM but CT prevalence in this small group was 28.6% (p<0.0001). CT positivity assessed in St. Petersburg by culture and in-house RT-PCR tests was confirmed in Amsterdam by a molecular CE marked CT test.

Conclusions Our study showed that—(1) CT prevalence among the Russian population is still high especially in MSM. (2) Risk factor include—being symptomatic at the time of testing (p=0.0043), inconsistent condom use and practicing sex with men (both—p<0.0001). (3) All samples found culture and/or RT-PCR CT+ in Russia were confirmed CT+ using molecular biological techniques in Amsterdam, showing the validity of CT detection in this study in St. Petersburg. At the moment we additionally—A) extent.