French situation concerning the Swedish Chlamydia trachomatis variant

In 2006, a plasmid deletion mutant of Chlamydia trachomatis was identified in Sweden that can not be detected with those commercial tests targeting the deleted area. In order to study the spread of this strain in France, a laboratory-based surveillance system was set up by the National Reference Centre for Chlamydiae and the Institut de Veille Sanitaire. Among 1,141 C. trachomatis-positive specimens from all over France, the new variant was only detected in one case. This case was a non-French resident consulting a sexually transmitted infections clinic. Although the new variant does not seem to be established in France as yet, surveillance based on the testing of C. trachomatis-positive samples from all over France continues.