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Kyle T. Bernstein, ScM, Joan M. Chow, MPH, DrPH, Juan Ruiz, MD, DrPH, Julius Schachter, PhD, Evalyn Horowitz, MD, Rebecca Bunnell, ScD, MEd and Gail Bolan, MD

At the time of the study, Kyle T. Bernstein and Rebecca Bunnell were with the California Department of Health Services, Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch, Berkeley. Joan M. Chow and Gail Bolan are with the California Department of Health Services, Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch, Berkeley. Juan Ruiz is with the California Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS. Julius Schachter is with the Chlamydia Research Laboratory, University of California, San Francisco. At the time of the study, Evalyn Horowitz was with Public Health Section, Health Care Services Division, California Department of Corrections, Sacramento.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Joan M. Chow, CA DHS Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Building P, Second Floor, Richmond, CA 94804-6403 (e-mail: jchow{at}dhs.ca.gov).

Objective. We estimated the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection among newly arriving inmates at 6 California prisons.

Methods. In this cross-sectional study in 1999, urine specimens collected from 698 men aged 18 to 25 years and 572 women aged 18 years or older were tested at intake for C trachomatis and N gonorrhoeae using ligase chain reaction. An analysis of demographic and arrest-related correlates of C trachomatis and N gonorrhoeae infection was performed.

Results. The overall C trachomatis prevalence was 9.9% (95% CI=7.8%, 12.3%) among men aged 18 to 25 years, 8.9% (95% CI = 2.9%, 22.1%) among women aged 18 to 25 years, and 3.3% (95% CI=2.0%, 5.1%) among women overall. Three N gonorrhoeae cases were detected with an overall prevalence of 0.24% (95% CI=0.05%, 0.69%).

Conclusions. The prevalence of C trachomatis infection at entry to California prisons, especially among young female and male inmates, was high, which supports routine screening at entry into prison. In addition, screening in a jail setting where most detainees are incarcerated before entry into the prison setting may provide an excellent earlier opportunity to identify these infections and treat disease to prevent complications and burden of infection in this high-risk population.