The distribution of
Chlamydia trachomatis serovars among 157 heterosexual male patients with urethritis and the presence of coinfections with other sexually transmitted
infections were studied. One hundred seventeen (74.5%) patients, with a mean age of 33.7 years, were Italians, whereas 40
(25.5%) were immigrants coming from eastern European countries, Africa, and South America. All the immigrants and 82 (70.0%)
Italian patients reported sex with prostitutes. Out of 157 patients, 73 (46.5%) were found positive for
C. trachomatis in urethral secretions and eight different
C. trachomatis serovars were identified. The most common serovars were E (
n = 18; 24.7%), D (
n = 15; 20.5%), G (
n = 14;19.2%), and F (
n = 12; 16.4%). The sequencing data showed a high degree of conservation of the
omp1 gene. Thirty-six (46.7%) out of the 73
C. trachomatis-positive patients were coinfected with another sexually transmitted infection. The most common coinfection was gonorrhoea
detected in 22 (30.1%) patients, followed by condyloma in eight (8.2%) patients, syphilis in five (6.8%), and HIV in three
(4.1%).