Changes to Pap testing lead to thousands of missed chlamydia cases: study
Posted Jul 10, 2017 05:52:56 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Researchers say changes to Ontario’s cervical cancer screening guidelines have led to thousands of women not being tested and diagnosed for chlamydia.
Chlamydia is the world’s most common sexually transmitted disease; left untreated, the bacterial infection can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility.
Two years after Ontario’s cervical cancer screening guidelines changed in 2012, chlamydia testing dropped 26 per cent in females aged 15 to 19 and 18 per cent in those aged 20 to 24 _ with more than 2,700 fewer cases being detected.
The new guidelines recommend that women who have been sexually active receive a Pap test every three years starting at age 21, instead of having one annually starting three years after becoming sexually active.
Doctors usually collect swabs to screen for sexually transmitted infections like chlamydia while doing a Pap test for cervical cancer.
The researchers hope greater public awareness about the need for young women to be tested for chlamydia and the availability of a simple urine test will lead to more screening.
