We could virtually eradicate it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks 52 infectious diseases, received reports of 477,638 cases of chlamydia in 1995, more than any other infection. However, chlamydia is far more common than this figure indicates. Chlamydia is symptomless in 75 percent of cases among women and 25 percent among men.
Undetected chlamydia has severe consequences, particularly for women.
PID can invade a woman's upper reproductive tract and cause scarring of the Fallopian tubes, possibly making her infertile. The second most commonly reported infection in 1995 was gonorrhea, another STD that is often symptomless and can lead to PID and infertility. ASHA advocates routine testing for these infections for anyone who has had unprotected sex. We encourage every woman who has had unprotected sex to ask her health care provider for STD screening. At the national level, the CDC's Infertility Prevention Program has had dramatic results by providing screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea.