Should Screening for Chlamydia Trachomatis Be Performed on Asymptomatic Young Adults as well as on the Victims of Sexual Assault?

Oriol Yuguero; Amaia Cabases; Silvia Bertran; Crisitina Molins; Paula Paredes; Maria Ramirez

doi:10.1089/whr.2020.0088

Should Screening for Chlamydia Trachomatis Be Performed on Asymptomatic Young Adults as well as on the Victims of Sexual Assault?

Womens Health Rep (New Rochelle). 2021 Jan 12;2(1):20-22. doi: 10.1089/whr.2020.0088. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Oriol Yuguero^{1

2

3}, Amaia Cabases^{1

2}, Silvia Bertran^{1

2}, Crisitina Molins^{1

2}, Paula Paredes^{1

2}, Maria Ramirez^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Transversal Emergency Research Group, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida (IRBLLEIDA), Lleida, Spain.
² Catalan Health Institute, Health Region of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.

Abstract

In recent years, chlamydia trachomatis (CT) screening has been discussed among different scientific boards. However, in Spain, chlamydia screening is offered to women who attend a hospital after sexual assault. We found that 5.1% of 59 cases attending our hospital after sexual assault between January 2017 and December 2019 tested positive for chlamydia infection. The mean age of the cases was 23.3 years. In comparison, screening asymptomatic patients of similar age attending hospital for other reasons have revealed a prevalence of CT of 7%. Hence, since CT is common in asymptomatic individuals as well as victims of sexual assault, we believe that chlamydia screening should also be a priority in asymptomatic patients.

Keywords: chlamydia trachomatis; screening; sexual assault.

Publication types

Case Reports