Screening for Chlamydia — A Key to the Prevention of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Abstract

Pelvic inflammatory disease and its severe, costly consequences are preventable. “Pelvic inflammatory disease” refers to infection of the endometrium, fallopian tubes, and contiguous structures. Although it is often caused by multiple infectious organisms, pelvic inflammatory disease results most frequently from the ascent of sexually transmitted chlamydial or gonococcal infection from the cervix into the upper genital tract.¹ More than 10 percent of women of reproductive age report a history of such disease,² and it develops in more than 1 million American women annually.¹ In 1994, the estimated costs associated with symptomatic pelvic inflammatory disease exceeded $5.5 billion.^1,3 However, published . . .