PEDIATRICS Vol. 81 No. 4 April 1988, pp. 600-601
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Chlamydia and Suspected Sexual Abuse

MARGARET R. HAMMERSCHLAG MD1

1 Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York, Health Science Center at Brooklyn, 450 Clarkson Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11203

To the Editor.—

I read with interest the study by Fuster and Neinstein.1 However, I wish to address several aspects of the report regarding the significance of genital infection with Chlamydia trachomatis in children, clinical findings, and diagnosis.

The question of whether genital infection with C trachomatis in a prepubertal child is an indicator of sexual abuse is still controversial. Although it has been demonstrated that an abused child can acquire the infection after rape,2 the organism can also be present as the result of persistent perinatal infection.