Chlamydia trachomatis infection of the cervix: the need for a diagnostic service.

Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from the cervix in 20.4 per cent (104/511) of women attending a department of genito-urinary medicine. Isolation rates ranged from 43.3 per cent in women with gonorrhoea to 4.2 per cent in women with no STD and who required no treatment. There was no association between the presence of chlamydia in the cervix and any symptom complex. Although high isolation rates were also noted in women with signs of cervicitis and in women whose partners had non-gonococcal urethritis, the accuracy of such clinical and epidemiological criteria in predicting cervical infection was low. In the absence of a screening service the chlamydial infection of 81 women (those who were not NGU contacts) would have been undiagnosed and untreated. The need for a screening service is discussed.