Chlamydial and gonococcal infections among college freshmen: Implications for screening among high school students

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of chlamydial and gonococcal infections among college freshmen.

Methods

The Infertility Prevention Project initiated chlamydia screening in the 2007 fall semester at six North Carolina colleges which previously reported a HIV outbreak. The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of chlamydia among freshmen at the beginning of the semester since chlamydia screening is not routinely offered to high school students. Chlamydia and gonorrhea screening was offered to all students who volunteered a urine specimen. The specimens were tested using the APTIMA COMBO (AC) 2® Assays (Gen-Probe, Inc., San Diego, CA).

Results

A total of 659 students were screened and approximately 63% were females and 79% were African Americans. Over half of the students (54%) were between the ages of 17 and 19 years. A total of 243 freshmen (37%) were screened and 47% attended a college with an enrollment of between 5,000 and 10,000 students. Overall, the chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalences were 13.8% and 2.1% respectively. Among freshmen, chlamydia and gonorrhea prevalences were 17.6% and 2.7% respectively. Freshmen less than 20 years old were 1.68 times more likely to have chlamydia than upper classmen (95% CI 1.05, 2.68) P <.05.

Conclusion

The prevalence of chlamydia among freshmen entering college was high. The results of this study suggest the need to promote chlamydia screening in high schools to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.