STDs & Infertility
CDC Recommends Chlamydia Screening of All Sexually Active Women 25 and Under
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are important preventable causes of infertility. Untreated, about 10-15% of women with chlamydia will develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Chlamydia can also cause fallopian tube infection without any symptoms. PID and “silent” infection in the upper genital tract may cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues, which can lead to infertility.
- An estimated 2.8 million cases of chlamydia and 718,000 cases of gonorrhea occur annually in the United States.*
- Most women infected with chlamydia or gonorrhea have no symptoms.
CDC recommends annual chlamydia screening for all sexually active females 25 and under and for women older than 25 with risk factors such as a new sex partner or multiple partners.
Resources
- 2010 STD Treatment Guidelines
- Summary of a Review of the Literature: Programs to Promote Chlamydia Screening - a literature review to support an infertility prevention social marketing campaign
- Dear Colleague Letter - Announcing new National Chlamydia Screening Coordinator (8 April 2008)
- Male
Chlamydia Screening Consultation - Review and guidance
(25 May 2007)- Dear Colleague Letter - from John M. Douglas, Jr., MD., Director, Division of STD Prevention.
- Expedited Partner Therapy in the Management of Sexually Transmitted Diseases - Review and Guidance (2 February 2006)
- Infertility Prevention Project
- Chlamydia Screening, HEDIS and Managed Care
- Screening Tests to Detect Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections - 2002 (18 October 2002)
* Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the first and second most commonly reported notifiable disease in the United States. In 2009, a total of 1,244,180 chlamydial infections and 301,174 cases of gonorrhea were reported to CDC from 50 states and the District of Columbia. The number of reported cases is lower than the estimated total number because infected people are often unaware of, and do not seek treatment for, their infections and because screening for chlamydia is still not routine in many clinical settings.
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