• nucleic acid amplification assay
• chlamydial infection

In his update on Chlamydia trachomatis diagnostics,¹ Chernesky emphasises that nucleic acid amplification (NAA) assays can be useful for screening purposes, because of their increased sensitivity and the possibility of non-invasive sample collection. Since the introduction of these assays, many screening interventions have been undertaken and evaluated mostly in an optimal research context. However, a number of problems can be expected if these diagnostics are implemented in large scale routine clinical practice or in community screening programmes.

Firstly, multiple testing sites may be needed for accurate results,¹ …