Changes in chlamydia control activities in Europe between 2007 and 2012: a cross-national survey.
In 2012, the levels of chlamydia control activities including primary prevention, effective case management with partner management and surveillance were assessed in 2012 across countries in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), on initiative of the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) survey, and the findings were compared with those from a similar survey in 2007.



Experts in the 30 EU/EEA countries were invited to respond to an online questionnaire; 28 countries responded, of which 25 participated in both the 2007 and 2012 surveys. Analyses focused on 13 indicators of chlamydia prevention and control activities; countries were assigned to one of five categories of chlamydia control.



In 2012, more countries than in 2007 reported availability of national chlamydia case management guidelines (80% vs. 68%), opportunistic chlamydia testing (68% vs. 44%) and consistent use of nucleic acid amplification tests (64% vs. 36%). The number of countries reporting having a national sexually transmitted infection control strategy or a surveillance system for chlamydia did not change notably. In 2012, most countries (18/25, 72%) had implemented primary prevention activities and case management guidelines addressing partner management, compared with 44% (11/25) of countries in 2007.



Overall, chlamydia control activities in EU/EEA countries strengthened between 2007 and 2012. Several countries still need to develop essential chlamydia control activities, whereas others may strengthen implementation and monitoring of existing activities.
Unit of Epidemiology and Surveillance, RIVM/Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, Bilthoven, The Netherlands ingrid.van.den.broek@rivm.nl.
Ingrid V
IV
van den Broek
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden.
Otilia
O
Sfetcu
Unit of Epidemiology and Surveillance, RIVM/Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, Bilthoven, The Netherlands Julius Centre, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Marianne A
MA
van der Sande
Department of Public Health, Randers Hospital, Skovlyvej, Randers, Denmark.
Berit
B
Andersen
Section of Clinical Bacteriology, Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Björn
B
Herrmann
Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, St Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London, UK.
Helen
H
Ward
Department of Infectious Disease Control, Municipal Public Health Service Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Hannelore M
HM
Götz
Department of Public Health, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Anneli
A
Uusküla
HIV & STI Department, National Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control, Public Health England, London, UK.
Sarah C
SC
Woodhall
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Shelagh M
SM
Redmond
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden.
Andrew J
AJ
Amato-Gauci
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Nicola
N
Low
Unit of Epidemiology and Surveillance, RIVM/Centre for Infectious Disease Control Netherlands, Bilthoven, The Netherlands Department of General Practice, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands STI AIDS Netherlands, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Jan E
JE
van Bergen
D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005060:Europe; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires