Among Teenagers Treated For Chlamydia, Two-Year Reinfection Rate Nears 20%.(Brief Article)

Nearly one in five teenage women who have had a chlamydial infection are reinfected within two years, according to an analysis of data from Washington State.[1] Women aged 15-19 are four times as likely as 30-44-year-olds to develop one repeat infection and five times as likely to be reinfected at least twice. Furthermore, teenagers are less likely than older women to seek care from the same facility each time they have a chlamydial infection.

Chlamydia is the most common bacterial infection in the United States, and repeat infections increase the risk of longterm complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancy. Therefore, factors leading to repeat infections need to be identified and addressed. To this end, analysts examined data from a population-based sexually transmitted disease (STD) registry in Washington, which provided information on 32,698 women aged 10-44…