Taking female genital swabs

Just over 8 per cent of young people aged 15 to 24 years, out of 1.7 million tested in 2013, tested positive for genital Chlamydia trachomatis (Public Health England, 2014a). This sexually transmitted bacterial infection is asymptomatic in 70 per cent of women, although it may cause vaginal discharge, post-coital bleeding, dysuria, lower abdominal pain, deep dyspareunia and cervicitis (Lazero, 2013). More than 50 per cent of men with chlamydia are asymptomatic when tested in community settings. Two-thirds of the sexual partners of people diagnosed with chlamydia also have this infection. If untreated, chlamydia infection can persist for years (Public Health England, 2014b). Complications of untreated chlamydia, such as infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease, are estimated to cost more than £100 million a year (Lazero, 2013)