STD research findings: Almost half of all women testing positive for the sexually transmitted infection, chlamydia, at Dublin Wellwoman's three centres in the first 10 months of this year were aged 24 or less - with a further one-third aged between 25 and 29, new figures have revealed.
The research also indicates that young women from poorer areas of Dublin may be more likely to test positive for the bacterial infection, which can lead to infertility, than their counterparts living elsewhere in the city.
An analysis of some 2,997 chlamydia tests conducted by Dublin Wellwoman centres show that a total of 200 women, or some 7 per cent of all those tested, were found to have chlamydia.
But one-quarter of all women who tested positive for the infection at Wellwoman's Coolock clinic - which is the only Dublin Wellwoman clinic to offer a medical card service - were aged 19 and under.
This compares with a figure of just 6 per cent for women in this age group testing positive at the Wellwoman clinic in Liffey Street - with no women testing positive at its Pembroke Road clinic, located on Dublin's southside.
Alison Begas, chief executive of Dublin Wellwoman Centre, said the Coolock results related to a relatively small sample size from among the 19-and-under age group. But they supported her organisation's own view of the situation on the ground.
"There is a socio-economic dimension to this," she said. "It is also worth remembering that women are not getting chlamydia in isolation. They are either getting it from men or passing it onto men.
"We are now in the mid-part of the Christmas party season, and a lot of women who come into us will come in to us on the morning after the night before. This is mainly for emergency contraception, but they are not necessarily aware of the risk of infection."
Last month, a report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre showed that instances of chlamydia infection had increased by 24 per cent.
It also noted that notifications of this type of infection were likely to be an underestimate of the "true burden of disease", as the infection produced no symptoms in at least 70 per cent of women and 50 per cent of men.
There is a "real need" for the introduction of a targeted chlamydia screening programme," Ms Begas said. This could be linked to a national cervical screening programme, she added.
From positive results at Dublin Wellwoman's three clinics, 47 per cent occurred among women aged 24 or less, while a further one-third occurred among women aged between 25 and 29. Some 12 per cent came from women in the 30 to 34 age bracket.
Figures also show a significant increase in the number of women being tested for the infection at the clinics. Already in the first 10 months of this year, some 700 more women have been tested than in the whole of 2004.
However, this is likely to be explained by the fact that, since this year, women deciding to have cervical smears at Wellwoman clinics are also given the option of having a chlamydia test.