Chlamydia trachomatis infection in a male college student population.

Male university students were studied to evaluate the merit of routine screening for chlamydia urethritis. Two hundred fourteen sexually active male students answered a questionnaire about symptoms of urethritis and exposure to and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). All subjects were screened for chlamydia by enzyme immunoassay (Chlamydiazyme, Abbott Laboratories). Overall, Chlamydiazyme was positive in 42 of 214 subjects (19.6%). Eighty-six subjects had no symptoms and no history of untreated exposure to STD; 6 of these had positive Chlamydiazyme assays. Based on our results, we conclude that the proportion of male urethral chlamydia infections that are asymptomatic may be much higher than has previously been believed. We further conclude that asymptomatic sexually active male students on this campus are a high-risk population for whom routine chlamydia screening is appropriate.