Audit of partner notification for chlamydia infection in the genitourinary medicine clinic at the University Hospital of Hartlepool: 2004–2008

Partner notification is essential for the control of chlamydia infection, which is on the rise. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of partner notification for chlamydia infection in the genitourinary medicine clinic at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, UK from 2004 to 2008. Overall 1.37 partners were declared per index patient, with male patients declaring 1.59 partners and female patients declaring 1.19 partners. For each chlamydia index patient 0.52 partners were screened (38 per cent of declared partners). Fifty-seven percent of the screened patients were positive for chlamydia and this increased from 33% in 2004 to 66% in 2008. The number of index cases needed to interview to get a new positive chlamydia was 3.37 over the study period and varied from 6.74 in 2004 to 2.74 in 2008. This audit highlights the need to improve partner notification for chlamydia infection.