How has the approach to chlamydia changed over the years?

Answer 1

The approach to chlamydia has changed over the years in a number of ways:

• Increased options for testing: when chlamydia culture was the only choice, it was hard to detect chlamydia. Culture is difficult and has a high risk of false positive. In addition, urethral swabs were not something men looked forward to. The advent of nonculture testing has decreased the risk of false positives, and the introduction of effective urine testing and self-administered vaginal swabs means that chlamydia screening is noninvasive and doesn't require the presence of a health care provider to complete the exam.
• More indications for testing: routine chlamydia screening became much more common in the 1990s. Rather than testing only people with symptoms, more people were tested for risk factors such as age or multiple sex partners. Screening of pregnant women decreases the chances of chlamydia-related disease in newborns.
• More options for treatment: single-dose treatment with azithromycin increases the chances of compliance with treatment.
• Better understanding of the consequences: Since chlamydia is the leading cause of infertility, governments have set aside money for screening to prevent chlamydia-related infertility through early detection and treatment. In addition, US states in the 1990s and early 2000s made chlamydia reportable, and increased the use of contact tracing to decrease chlamydia in local communities.