1. These apparently included elephantiasis, dysentery, smallpox, bubonic plague, and ophthalmia.

2. Background: In up to 73% of ophthalmia neonatorum, Chlamydia trachomatis is the causative agents.

3. The aim of this study was to determine the bacterial spectrum of ophthalmia neonatorum with special regard to chlamydia and their diagnostic tests.

4. Materials and methods: We compared the results of 15 newborn with ophthalmia neonatorum. For the diagnosis we used a rapid diagnostic test, Immunofluorescent Antibody Staining and Culture on McCoy cells.

5. Sporadic malformations (anencephaly, micro-ophthalmia, widened brain ventricles and omphalocele) were observed in the rabbit embryofetal toxicity studies at doses resulting in exposures comparable with the clinical exposures