Los Angeles County health officials on Wednesday announced a program that will offer young women home delivery of chlamydia and gonorrhea testing kits and send them a text message when the results are available, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports. The $450,000 program aims to curb the rapid spread of sexually transmitted infections in the county while also reducing clinic wait times and costs.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics, Los Angeles County in 2007 led the nation in reported chlamydia cases with 44,030 and ranked second for reported gonorrhea cases with 10,063. CDC has labeled chlamydia a hidden epidemic because women often display no symptoms. It is estimated that three million men and women contract the infection annually. Although chlamydia is treatable with antibiotics, women with untreated cases can experience infertility, higher risk for ectopic pregnancy and other problems. Peter Kerndt, director of the countys STI program, said that the number of reported cases is expected to rise after the programs implementation. According to county Health Director Jonathan Fielding, more than 50% of reported cases involve women younger than age 25, many of whom are black and Hispanic teens. It is recommended that women younger than age 25 receive annual testing.

Under the program, 10,000 chlamydia and gonorrhea testing kits will be immediately available, with more offered as needed, according to county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. To request a kit, women can visit a Web site or call a tollfree number to have the kits mailed to them. Women can administer the tests at home by inserting a vaginal swab for 10 seconds, sealing the swab in a plastic tube and mailing it to the testing center. They can opt to have a text message sent to their phone alerting them when their results are ready, which can be checked by phone or online. Women will then be referred to a local health clinic if needed. Similar programs have been implemented in Denver, Maryland, Washington, D.C., West Virginia and some Illinois counties. The Los Angeles County program is modeled on a Baltimore pilot program led by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Mohajer, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 6/11).

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