CDC issues new guidelines on treatment of STDs: rescreen women 3-4 months after they have completed treatment for chlamydia. (First Update Since 1998).

Recently updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urge providers to rescreen women 34 months after they've completed treatment for chlamydia.

That was among the major new recommendations contained in the latest revision of the agency's sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines (MMWR 51[RR-6]:1-77 2002). The guidelines, which were last revised in 1998, also advise serologic type--specific diagnosis of herpes simplex virus and alternative treatment for gonorrhea acquired in California.

The following suggested protocols are among the most significant revisions:

* Chlamydia. For the first time, the CDC has recommended rescreening in the management of chlamydlia, stating that all infected women should be rescreened 3-4 months after treatment is completed. This new guideline was issued as a result of the high prevalence of chlamydia among women who had been previously diagnosed and treated, Dr. Stuart Berman, chief of epidemiology and surveillance in CDC's division of STD prevention, said in an interview.

Rescreening would help detect reinfection with chlamydia that may have occurred after treatment.

The agency continues to recommend annual chlamydia screening for all sexually active women aged 24 years and younger, even if symptoms are not present, and for women older than age 24 with a risk factor for chiamydia (a new sexual partner or multiple sexual partners).

The guidelines' increased attention to chlamydia screening in young women is particularly important, as these patients are more susceptible to a chlamydial infection than are older women, Dr. Berman said.