Chlamydia - UK National screening for the young

The National Chlamydia Screening Programme, started 3 years ago in April 2003. In total 180,000 young people have been screened outside genito-urinary clinics, 18,000 in the first year, 68,000 in the second year and 100,000 this year. (Annual report 2004/5) To some extent it was kick started by a House of Commons debate 8/5/2002. Footnote (1)

Another 60 areas will commence screening this year in a 2 year £80 Mn Programme which will operate nationwide. Screening is offered in a broad range of health and non health settings such as prisons, military bases and colleges. Six million young people under 25 will have access to chlamydia screening during 2007. The Department of Health is also piloting a two year NHS chlamydia testing scheme in Boots pharmacies aimed at 16 - 24 year olds across London - making it easier for young people to access chlamydia testing on the high street. Nearly 28,000 kits have been issued to date.

Ten percent of young men and women screened testing positive for the disease. During 2007 screening is set to become a routine part of health care for young people throughout the UK.

A new sexual health campaign will be launched later this year which will target young adults, raising awareness of the benefits of using condoms and the risks of unprotected sex. Chlamydia can be contracted by vaginal, anal, or oral sex and also from mother to child at birth in vaginal deliveries.

Chlamydia is one of the most common Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), affecting as many as 10% of sexually active young men and women and is easily and inexpensively treated with antibiotics. It is caused by the bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis, if untreated in women it can lead to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility.

The 3rd Annual Conference is being held today of the National Chlamydia Screening Programme 2005 / 06 with an address by Professor Julius Schachter who is is a Professor of Laboratory Medicine at University of California, San Francisco. He is the Editor of the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases. His address is entitled "Screening for genital chlamydial infection: The Good, the Bad and the Unbelievable."

In the afternoon Lesley Smith, Curator of Tutbury Castle, will talk , somewhat mysteriously about, " Sex across the centuries - Sex in the 17th century - 'The French pox and mercury' . A talk that apparently provides a focus on syphilis across society in the 17th century and some of the desperate attempts made to avoid contracting and passing sexually transmitted diseases. She will probably get round to explaining how syphilis is increasing in the UK (Footnote 2)within the unprecedented birth of children with syphilis becoming increasingly common (327 cases in 2000 to 716 in 2001 Source BBC Radio 1) even though it is simply and easily treated with penicillin.

Dr Mary Macintosh - Director - National Chlamydia Screening Programme will present the current progress of the program and lead a debate on the subject "All NCSP chlamydia positives should have a full sexually Transitted infections STI screening" .. they might usefully discuss whether the same should be discussed for women whose cervical smears present evidence of STI's but currently are ignored.

PreventX provides an online home testing kit that gives results in 10 minutes. They also have an excellent page of advice for the sexually active young - which any parent should read...and perhaps pass on.

The Centre for Disease Control have a useful page also - Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD - note the UK use the term STI) in the United States. In 2004, 929,462 chlamydial infections were reported to CDC throughout the US.

Footnote (1)

Jane Griffiths (Reading, East): I am pleased to have secured this debate on such an important subject ....the number of new episodes of acute STIs diagnosed in genito-urinary medicine [GUM] clinics in England, Wales and Northern Ireland rose from 887,760 in 1995 to 1,185,285 in 2000.

This debate was notable in that Lembit Opek was able to tell the world that he had encouraged Durex to declare the previous week National Condom Week. (May 8th - 13th in the UK - Feb. 14th - 21st in the US)


Footnote( 2 )
Indexed in MedLine as: Euro Surveill 2004;9(12):21-5

There have been substantial increases in diagnoses of infectious syphilis between 1998 and 2003, with a 25-fold increase seen in men who have sex with men (MSM) (from 43 to 1028 diagnoses); 6-fold (138 to 860) in heterosexual men and 3-fold (112 to 338) in women.