Chlamydia screening: which sample for which technique?

Chlamydia trachomatis is considered the most common bacteria causing genital infections in the industrialised world. In women, the infection may lead to serious complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) with consequences including infertility, ectopic pregnancy, and chronic pelvic pain. It has been shown that screening of women at risk for STD can reduce half of the cases of PID.1 Within the past decade different nonculture tests have become commercially available to enable more efficient diagnostic and screening programmes even in large population groups.2 Owing to the high sensitivity of some of these tests invasive specimens from the endocervical canal and urethra can now be replaced by non-invasive specimens such as urine and vulval samples.