title: When is the optimal time to screen for Chlamydia in adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Louisiana has a high rate of chlamydia, an easily identifiable and treatable sexually transmitted disease. Patients with chronic diseases, such as sickle cell disease (SCD) often forgo routine primary care visits. We hypothesized that patients with SCD have an increased percentage of asymptomatic chlamydia compared with a matched population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort study was performed over a 12-month period on eligible patients with SCD (ages 15-30 years). Patients were screened for asymptomatic chlamydia by urine polymerase chain reaction during comprehensive care visits in the SCD clinic.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-four patients underwent testing during the study period, and 4/34 patients (11.8%) tested positive for chlamydia. State data show a rate of 1791/100 000 (1.8%) among a demographically matched cohort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with SCD had a larger percentage of asymptomatic chlamydia than a demographically matched control population. Patients with SCD should be screened by specialists for chlamydia in addition to undergoing routine primary care evaluations.
authors.affiliation: Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bluett-Mills
authors.affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA kanter@musc.edu.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kanter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002689:Chlamydia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: chlamydia; chronic disease; health care disparities; sickle cell disease