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Chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae Infections

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Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection

Abstract

Chronic infections are the most important form of chlamydial infections. Moreover, as the average lifetime increases the importance of chronic infections and associated late sequalae also rises. In C. trachomatis infections it can take decades before blindness develops in trachoma, important symptoms of lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) are only seen after years of disease progression, and an episode of male nongonococcal urethritis may sometimes suggest a woman in danger of developing ectopic pregnancy and infertility due to a chronic silent pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) [48]. The discovery of C. pneumoniae, an extremely common Chlamydia which readily invades the lung, prompted a study on the possibility of a chronic involvement of this organ. Through the lungs a pathogen has an easy opportunity for further dissemination inside the body, and C. pneumoniae has also been associated with non respiratory chronic diseases.

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  1. Pekka Saikku
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, Milan, Italy

    Luigi Allegra M.D. (Head of the Institute of Respiratory Diseases) (Head of the Institute of Respiratory Diseases)

  2. Institute of Respiratory Diseases, University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, Milan, Italy

    Francesco Blasi M.D., PH.D. (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

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© 1995 Springer-Verlag Italia, Milano

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Saikku, P. (1995). Chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae Infections. In: Allegra, L., Blasi, F. (eds) Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2201-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2201-0_8

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-75007-9

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