Prevention Matters

Despite strong recommendations that all sexually active young women age 25 and younger receive a screening test each year for chlamydia, many websites offering health information fail to mention the importance of chlamydia screening. Health websites providing information to the public often discuss chlamydia infections, symptoms and treatment. But the vast majority of young women with chlamydia have no symptoms so making screening a routine part of medical care is strongly recommended.

Chlamydia screening is recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many leading medical associations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Medical Association. The consequences of untreated chlamydia infections include pelvic inflammatory disease, which may lead to infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and pregnancy complications. Chlamydia can be detected with a urine test and treated with common antibiotics.

The National Chlamydia Coalition, convened by the Partnership for Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has begun to reach out to health websites urging them to update their entries on chlamydia to make it clear to sexually active young women that chlamydia screening should be a routine part of their medical care. The coalition is pleased to have worked with the National Women’s Health Resource Center to update its chlamydia information to include screening. The article can be accessed at http://www.healthywomen.org/healthtopics/chlamydia. The National Chlamydia Coalition offers additional resources, including where to locate confidential STD screening services, at www.prevent.org/NCC.

Susan K. Maloney, MHS
Managing Senior Fellow & Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention