Determining the magnitude of chlamydia and gonorrhea reinfection is critical to inform evidence-based clinical practice guidelines related to retesting after treatment. PubMed was used to identify peer-reviewed English language studies published in the past 30 years that estimated reinfection rates among females treated for chlamydia or gonorrhea. Included in this analysis were original studies conducted in the United States and other industrialized countries that reported data on chlamydia or gonorrhea reinfection in females. Studies were stratified into 3 tiers based on study design. Reinfection rates were examined in relation to the organism, study design, length of follow-up, and population characteristics. Of the 47 studies included, 16 were active cohort (Tier 1), 15 passive cohort (Tier 2), and 16 disease registry (Tier 3) studies. The overall median proportion of females reinfected with chlamydia was 13.9% (n = 38 studies). Modeled chlamydia reinfection within 12 months demonstrated peak rates of 19% to 20% at 8 to 10 months. The overall median proportion of females reinfected with gonorrhea was 11.7% (n = 17 studies). Younger age was associated with higher rates of both chlamydia and gonorrhea reinfection. High rates of reinfection with chlamydia and gonorrhea among females, along with practical considerations, warrant retesting 3 to 6 months after treatment of the initial infection. Further research should investigate effective interventions to reduce reinfection and to increase retesting.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalence was very high in females in all project sites. In males, chlamydia prevalence was high in some areas; however, gonorrhea prevalence was substantially lower. These prevalence data justify screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea among female adolescents in juvenile detention centers nationally.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.