New Cholesterol, Chlamydia Guidelines
B O S T O N, April 17, 2001 -- 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.
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.
Not All Bad News
"The good news," says Allen, "is that testing for chlamydia and treating it are both easy and reliable."
"One oral dose of an antibiotic — Zythromax — in the doctor's office is effective in treating the infection."
Allen says the Task Force's guidelines recommend that all people at risk for developing a chlamydial infection should be regularly screened by their primary care healthcare providers.
Those at greatest risk for chlamydia are sexually active men and women 25 years old or younger who either don't use a condom or use one irregularly, have sex with multiple partners, and have a history of sexually-transmitted diseases.
Young women and adolescents through the age of 20 are at the highest risk for an infection with chlamydia, the guidelines say. Women between 20 and 25 have the highest prevalence of the infection.
Although men transmit chlamydia, the guidelines do not recommend routine screening for men because there are no studies that show the effectiveness of screening for or early treatment of chlamydia decreasing transmission to women.
These guidelines were developed as part of an ongoing effort by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a professional body of primary healthcare providers, designed to help primary care clinicians address preventable and treatable illnesses in their practices.