8 March 2012, 4 pm
Canynge Hall, Room LG.08
Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most common bacterial sexually-transmitted infection in developed countries with prevalence highest in people aged under 25 years. Women infected with CT may develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and are at increased risk of tubal factor infertility (TFI), ectopic pregnancy (EP) and chronic pelvic pain. Although surveillance data are available, true population exposure and burden of disease remains unknown. The National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP) is a control and prevention programme targeted at sexually active young people under 25 and costs an estimated £42 million annually. Although chlamydia screening continues to be a central component of the Government’s Sexual Health Strategy for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, it is not known whether this on-going investment has resulted in a decrease in prevalence and associated sequelae. Not only is there no experimental evidence from randomised controlled trials of the effect of screening on population prevalence and sequelae to inform such estimates, but to date the prospective evaluation of the health outcomes of screening have been too complex to perform. Paddy will discuss potential future strategies for evaluating the cost effectiveness of CT screening programmes, including the utility of the sensitive and specific chlamydia Pgp3 antibody test recently developed in collaboration with Prof M McClure from Imperial College London.
Dr Paddy Horner has been a consultant at Bristol in Genitourinary Medicine since 1994. In 2007 he was awarded a Walport Clinical Senior Lectureship at the School of Social and Community Medicine, Since 2006 he has also been an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London where he has a close collaboration with Prof Myra McClure. His has a long standing interest in Chlamydial research.
Please contact Charlene for further information.