It’s important to encourage all patients who test positive for chlamydia to notify their sex partners and urge them to seek medical evaluation and treatment. The two most effective options for partner treatment are: In-Person Visit Whenever possible, have the partner come in for counseling, evaluation, and treatment. An effective approach is to have the […]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) laboratory recommendations for chlamydia screening that were published April 2014 state that a vaginal swab is the preferred specimen type for women. It can either be clinician-collected or self-collected. Other acceptable sources are a cervical swab or a first-pass urine sample. For men, the recommended specimen is […]
There is no recommendation to routinely screen for chlamydia among heterosexual males. But, screening sexually active adolescent and young adult men should be considered in clinical settings with a high prevalence of chlamydia (e.g., adolescent clinics, correctional facilities, and sexually transmitted disease clinics) or in populations with high burden of infection (e.g., gay, bisexual, and […]
Commentary by Ellen Pittman, Lea E. Widdice, MD, University of Cincinnati Screening, treatment, and education to prevent future infections among populations at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are critical components of public health efforts to control STIs, including chlamydia. Typically, chlamydia screening is accessible only in traditional health care settings, such as medical provider’s […]
Commentary by Rich Rothman, MD, PhD, Andrea Dugas, MD, PhD, and Mitra Lewis, MS Johns Hopkins University Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most commonly reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) with approximately 1.4 million cases reported in the United States in 2014, representing an increase of 2.8% from the previous year and the highest number […]
Identifying Patients for Retesting One practice-based factor that leads to low retesting rates is lack of a consistent method for identifying patients due for retesting when they visit the office for another reason. To prevent missed opportunities for retesting, it is recommended to institute system-level interventions, such as paper or electronic chart prompts (“pop-ups”), to […]
Commentary by Charlotte Gaydos, MS, MPH, DrPH, Johns Hopkins University Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a significant health burden in the United States, having an estimated prevalence of over 110 million, with approximately 19 million incident infections annually.1 The most common bacterial infection of these is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis with 1,441,789 cases reported to […]
Commentary by Catherine Lindsey Satterwhite, PhD, MSPH, MPH In the October 2011 issue of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Yu and colleagues report on an evaluation of partner services delivered in eight family planning clinics in California. From 2005–2006, researchers interviewed females aged 16–35 years who were diagnosed with chlamydia to ascertain what partner services were received […]
Commentary by Karen Hoover, MD, MPH Retesting for chlamydia several months after treatment is important, because a large percentage of persons will become reinfected by an untreated partner or by a new, infected one. Repeated chlamydial infections in women can increase their risk of pelvic inflammatory disease and its ad-verse outcomes of infertility, and ectopic […]