New Cholesterol, Chlamydia Guidelines

B O S T O N, April 17 -- All sexually active women 25 years old and younger should be regularly screened by their primary-care providers for sexually transmitted chlamydia infections, say new health guidelines.

Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial disease in the United States, affecting 3 million people annually, according to the guidelines, published by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Prior guidelines had said in a general way that young sexually active women were at risk for chlamydia. But these new guidelines specifically say women 25 years and younger are at the greatest risk for the infection and should be screened.

"The reason it is so important young people are regularly screened for chlamydia is that it is too often a silent infection," said Janet Allen, a member of the Task Force and dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio. "Seventy to 90 percent of men and women infected with chlamydia don't have symptoms.

The Risk of Infertility

One of the most common outcomes for women with chlamydia infections is pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a painful and potentially dangerous condition in which all the female reproductive organs become inflamed.

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And one of the worst consequences of PID is infertility as a result of scarring of the female reproductive organs. PID can also lead to tubal pregnancies outside of the uterus because the fertilized egg gets trapped in the fallopian tube. This is a medical emergency that can result in death if not treated immediately.

In pregnant women, chlamydia infections can cause low birth weight babies or premature labor, creating risks for the newborn. It can also be passed to the newborn during birth leading to dangerous eye infections and pneumonia.

Women are not the only ones at risk. "This is a sexually-transmitted infection that is passed between sexual partners, so both partners need to be screened and treated." The infection often appears in men as a urinary tract infection with burning and discomfort during urination, as well as frequent urination.