Background Evidence has shown that efforts targeted towards controlling STI to maintain lower prevalence rates among key populations slows the spread of the epidemic to the general population. The question is: What is Chlamydia prevalence in sex workers attending STI clinics by work venue? Implementation of the sentinel surveillance for STI among FSW in Honduras began in March 2006 in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba. VICITS is based on STI diagnosis/treatment, condom promotion and counselling.

Methods From 2006 to 2012 we collected information about STI and behaviour of female sex workers in clinical history and analyse with Epi Info 7 the characteristics of participants by time, place and person. A bivariate analysis of an open cohort from 2007 to 2012 was performed. We compared the Chlamydia prevalence by work venue (venue-based versus street-based) and calculate p value by X².

Results During 2012, 761 FSW attended: 205 in Tegucigalpa, 438 in San Pedro Sula and 118 in La Ceiba. Median age was 27 years with 6.4 years of formal education. Chlamydia prevalence stood at 11.6% (N = 301) in San Pedro Sula, 4.2% (N = 144) in Tegucigalpa and 4.1% (N = 49) in La Ceiba. Condom use in last sex with client was reported at 97.8% (N = 179) in Tegucigalpa, 97.5% (N = 325) in San Pedro Sula and 98.9% (N = 93) in La Ceiba. In street-based FSW from San Pedro Sula, chlamydia decreased from 8.7% in 2007 to 3.6% in 2012 (p > 0.001). However it increased in venue-based FSW from 7% in 2007 to 13.5% in 2012 (p > 0.001)

Conclusions Reported condom use is high, yet Chlamydia prevalence remains elevated, especially in venue-based FSW in Pedro Sula. As 70% of FSW attending the clinic are venue-based, this increases overall prevalence results for that site but not statistically significantly. Behavior change activities should be expanded, especially among venue-based FSW.