Chlamydia in a district general hospital: an audit of treatment and contact tracing.

A retrospective case note audit, with reference to the recently published central audit group guidelines, was undertaken to assess females with chlamydial infection attending a district general hospital department of genitourinary medicine. Those diagnosed and referred by other agencies (mainly general practitioners (GPs)) were more often symptomatic and those treated before attending was more likely to need retreating. Contact tracing for current and recent partners was more successful than tracing previous partners. We feel that GPs and other agencies should continue to be encouraged to diagnose chlamydial infection and then to refer for immediate management, to limit re-infection/ potential re-infection and the need for retreatment. Contact tracing of casual contacts and previous partners has been of limited success and poses a challenge to meet the standards of the new guidelines.