Volume 13, Number 8—August 2007
Dispatch
Waddlia chondrophila, a Potential Agent of Human Fetal Death
David Baud*†, Vincent Thomas*, Aliaa Arafa†, Lesley Regan†, and Gilbert Greub*
Table 2
Characteristics of patients in the study according to their Waddlia serostatus
| Waddlia negative* (n = 341) | Waddlia positive† (n = 97) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, y | |||
| Median (interquartile range) | 33 (28–37) | 36 (31–39) | <0.001 |
| No. pregnancies | |||
| 1 | 107 (31.4) | 15 (15.5) | |
| 2 | 62 (18.2) | 16 (16.5) | 0.006‡ |
| >2 | 172 (50.4) | 66 (68) | |
| Mean (SD) |
3.2 (2.6) |
4 (3.1) |
0.005 |
| Parity | |||
| 0 | 108 (31.7) | 54 (55.7) | |
| 1 | 156 (45.8) | 29 (29.9) | 0.001‡ |
| 2 | 49 (14.4) | 5 (5.2) | |
| >2 | 28 (8.2) | 9 (9.3) | |
| Mean (SD) |
1.04 (1.04) |
0.7 (1) |
<0.001 |
| Miscarriages | |||
| Early (<12 wk) | 170 (49.9) | 81 (83.5) | <0.001 |
| Late (>12 wk) | 47 (13.8) | 17 (17.5) | 0.36 |
| Stillbirth (>24 wk) | 12 (3.5) | 3 (3.1) | 1 |
| Alive child |
228 (66.9) |
40 (41.2) |
<0.001 |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White | 184 (54) | 62 (63.9) | 0.08 |
| Black | 52 (15.3) | 15 (15.5) | 0.96 |
| Asian | 70 (20.5) | 13 (13.4) | 0.11 |
| Other |
29 (8.5) |
7 (7.2) |
0.68 |
| Contact with animals | 76 (22.3) | 34 (35.1) | 0.011 |
| Cat | 42 (12.3) | 18 (18.6) | 0.12 |
| Dog | 35 (10.3) | 14 (14.4) | 0.25 |
| Fish | 6 (1.8) | 3 (3.1) | 0.42 |
| Rodent | 7 (2.1) | 2 (2.1) | 1 |
| Other |
12 (3.5) |
3 (3.1) |
1 |
| Noninfectious miscarriage causes | 97 (28.5) | 19 (19.6) | 0.08 |
| Autoimmune disease | 19 (5.6) | 1 (1) | 0.09 |
| Hypertensive disorder | 8 (2.4) | 3 (3.1) | 0.71 |
| Endocrine pathology | 13 (3.8) | 2 (2.1) | 0.54 |
| Anatomic abnormalities |
4 (1.2) |
2 (2.1) |
0.62 |
| Additional serologies (titers) | |||
| Chlamydia trachomatis (IgG>50) | 49 (14.7) | 14 (14.3) | 0.98 |
| Clamydophila pneumoniae (IgG>64) | 161 (47.2) | 38 (39.2) | 0.16 |
| Cp. psittaci (IgG>1/64) | 20 (5.9) | 6 (6.2) | 1 |
*Patients with a Waddlia immunoglobulin G (IgG) titer <64 (n = 338) or not confirmed by Western blot analysis (n = 3).
†Patients with a Waddlia IgG titer >64 and confirmed by Western blot analysis.
‡p value for ordered categories (Pearson χ2 test).
