Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium chlamydia trachomatis. In the UK, the number of new diagnoses has been steadily increasing each year since the mid-1990s and it has now become the most commonly diagnosed bacterial STI.
Highest levels of Chlamydia infection are found among sexually active under-25s. As chlamydia sometimes has no symptoms, in both men and women, it can often go undiagnosed, unless it leads to complications. However, once the infection has been diagnosed, it is easy to treat. Left untreated, Chlamydia can cause long term damage affecting future fertility.
The National Chlamydia Screening Programme is an opportunistic screening programme available to 15 - 24 year olds and is a simple urine test. It is recommended that all people within this age group should be tested yearly or more often if they change sexual partners.
Many people who are at risk of this infection don’t really know what it is, or understand it, even if they are aware of the name.
Visit www.best2know.co.uk This site was developed by the Lancashire and Cumbria Sexual Health Networks. It is aimed at raising awareness of Chlamydia in 16-24 year olds across the network area.
The National Chlamydia Screening Programme website is available at http://www.chlamydiascreening.nhs.uk/ps/index.html and data performance tables and charts are within the data section of the website.
The table below shows the % of 15-24 year olds tested for Chlamydia in 2009/10. Just under 8% of young people tested positive and had no symptoms.
| PCT | % of total population |
| Salford | 27.4 |
| Central Lancashire | 26.6 |
| Liverpool | 26.6 |
| Blackpool | 26.2 |
| Halton and St Helens | 26.0 |
| Warrington | 25.8 |
| Wirral | 24.8 |
| Knowsley | 23.3 |
| Tameside and Glossop | 22.5 |
| Bolton | 22.0 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 21.4 |
| East Lancashire | 21.2 |
| Trafford | 21.1 |
| Ashton, Leigh and Wigan | 20.8 |
| Stockport | 20.7 |
| Oldham | 20.4 |
| Manchester | 20.4 |
| Cumbria | 20.0 |
| Central and Eastern Cheshire | 19.9 |
| Sefton | 19.8 |
| Western Cheshire | 19.6 |
| North Lancashire | 18.8 |
| Bury | 17.1 |
| Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale | 16.1 |
| North West | 14.4 |