Chlamydia Home Testing Via Internet By: John Bright

The U.S authority charged with stopping the spread of diseases have said that less than half the women at risk of contracting the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia are being screened for it. A group of researchers from the public health body examined date collected from public and private health plans that represented about 40% of the population.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention recommends yearly screens for all women below 25 who are sexually active and screens for those above 25 who are either pregnant or have had multiple sexual partners. However despite an increase in testing from 25.3% in 2000 to 43.6%, the screening rates are falling far short of what is necessary to make an impact on the infection, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the majority of western countries.

Dr.Karen Hoover and her colleagues, the researchers from the CDC who lead the study, wrote in the centre’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that “Chlamydia trachomatis infection is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the United States. During 2007, approximately 1.1 million cases of chlamydia were reported to CDC; more than half of these were in females aged 15 to 25 years."

Scientists estimate that though 1.1 million new cases of the infection were reported to the Centre for Disease control, the number of new infections being contracted each year is more likely to be over 2.8 million. In Britain, there were over 120,000 new cases reported in 2007, a rise of 7% from the year before. While this can partly be explained by improved screening programs and testing methods, it is still likely that there are large number of people who are unaware they are carrying the infection.

It is estimated that 50% of women and 70% of men will not experience symptoms if they are infected with the chlamydia virus. Left untreated, the infection can lead to in worst cases infertility. A proportion of women with untreated chlamydia will go on to develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which itself can cause the fallopian tubes to block, miscarriages and ectopic pregnancy (when the foetus develops outside of the womb). Due to the risk of infertility being particularly pronounced in women, it is particularly important they get tested, though authorities have also been concentrating on young men and the Afro-American community.

America is following Britain’s lead when it comes to chlamydia testing. In the U.K, STD home tests are increasingly seen as the best way to get hard-to-reach sections of the community screened. They are sent a chlamydia test kit and then send the sample back to the lab in the post box; it’s easy, discreet and extremely convenient. Health care authorities have been posting chlamydia tests to people’s homes, offering them in local pharmacies and even making them accessible in bars and clubs.

However as the UK is smaller, it is easier to offer STI testing by post as it can be done centrally from one laboratory. In the US due to the sheer geographic size this is impossible, but a few states are exploring state-specific testing, which may improve the situation.

John Bright, a journalist writes articles on chlamydia testing and STD home tests for http://www.thesticlinic.com/

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