Testing for Rectal Gonorrhea and Chlamydia — Lost Opportunities?

Cervical testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia is regularly recommended for women younger than 25 as well as older high-risk women. However, most clinicians do not routinely test the rectum. To investigate whether this lapse leads to missed infections, investigators analyzed sexually transmitted disease (STD) surveillance data collected at public STD clinics from 2015 through 2016, focusing on the 3743 women (7.4%) who reported having anal intercourse within the last 3 months.

Of women tested at cervical and rectal sites, 4.5% were positive for gonorrhea and 10.4% for chlamydia. Among women with gonorrhea, 74 were positive at both sites, 31 at the genital site only, and 23 at the rectal site only. Among those with chlamydia, 171 were positive …