High Street Boots Shocking ; CHEMIST SET TO SELL DIY SEXUAL DISEASE TESTS OVER THE COUNTER

HOME tests for sex disease chlamydia could soon be sold over the counter in Irish chemists, it emerged yesterday.

An outbreak of infections prompted Boots to supply the DIY kits in Britain – and will introduce it here if they prove popular.

Cases of chlamydia, which can cause infertility, have increased THREE-FOLD in Ireland since 1993, making it one of the fastest- growing sexual infections.

Dr Mary Cronin of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, said: “Chlamydia cases have gone up in Ireland and people are less embarrassed about seeking care.”

The testing kit, piloted in two stores in The Wirral, Liverpool, may be extended to Boots stores around Britain – and then to its 37 stores in the Republic.

Boots spokeswoman Clare Stafford said: “We are looking at it but we have no firm plans at the moment.

“We are interested in working with the health services on chlamydia screening, introducing it in Ireland would be dependant on discussions with the health service there.”

The pioneering kit is free and is a joint venture between Boots and British health services.

Users collect the kit from the chemist and provide a urine sample which is given back to the pharmacy.

The sample is then tested at a local hospital, and if chlamydia is confirmed, the patient is notified and antibiotics are made available through Boots to treat it.

Because rates of the disease are rocketing among young Irish people, health bosses may adopt the kits here.

More than 10,400 people were diagnosed with a sexually- transmitted infection in 2002, the highest number on record.

Experts blame the abuse of alcohol and a collapse of public morals. The most common STIs are chlamydia, genital warts and urethritis infections.

Chlamydia infections of the genital tract are the most common bacterial sexually transmitted diseases in the world.

The disease is caused by a group of micro-organisms that cause infectious diseases.

Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the main types and causes various types of genital, eye and lymph node infections in men and women.

In men it can cause inflammation of the urethra – the tube draining the bladder, which, if untreated, may lead to infertility.

In women, the infection can cause non-specific genital infection and if untreated, in the long term can lead to ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease or inflammation of the fallopian tubes.

Chlamydia infections are usually passed on during sexual contact with a new partner.

Dr Cronin said health authorities are currently examining the need for chlamydia screening in Ireland.

But she added: “I think preferably it would be better to deliver these services in an STI clinic.

“What we need to know in Ireland is how common it is in our population.”

niall.moonan@irishmirror.ie