Virginia Chlamydia Prevention Program

Screening

Patients eligible for simultaneous chlamydia and gonorrhea testing through the Chlamydia Prevention Program are:

1. Women

• Females under the age of 25 in family planning clinics. Women age 25 and over should only be tested for diagnostic reasons i.e. pre-insertion of IUD, new patient who never had a pelvic exam, or patient that has three or more sex partners in a year.

• All Females in STD clinics

• All prenatal clinic patients

Note: CDC recommends that females under age 25 in family planning clinics be screened for chlamydia and all women who test positive for chlamydia be retested in 3-4 months.  

2. Men

• Male partners of chlamydia infected females

• Asymptomatic males in STD clinics

• Males visiting STD clinics that do not have the resources to perform gram stains

Partnerships & Projects

Virginia is a member of the US Public Health Service Region III Chlamydia Project. Other Region III Project members include Philadelphia, Delaware, Washington, D. C., Baltimore, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The Project members meet quarterly to discuss program issues including screening and services, laboratory, data, training, and funding. Virginia's membership includes representatives from its STD, family planning, and laboratory programs.

The strong partnership between Virginia's STD, family planning, and laboratory program members has yielded new developments. Projects include the design and distribution of two Chlamydia awareness posters and a quality assurance analysis of data entry activity. The analysis resulted in increased communication with local health department clinic staff and the return of inadequate report forms to the field for corrections and resubmission. The Virginia Program also participated in the Region III specimen adequacy study. Another study assessing Chlamydia laboratory test technology resulted in establishing a program to pilot an amplified test procedure in select health districts.

Contact Information

For more information on the Virginia Chlamydia Prevention Program, please contact the STD Prevention Program Consultant at (804) 864-8030.