CDC Guidelines for Post‑Treatment Testing and Management of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

Timing of Post‑Treatment Testing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all patients treated for chlamydial infection should be retested approximately 3 months after treatment to detect repeat infections, which confer an elevated risk for complications compared to initial infections 8, 9
Test-of-cure is NOT recommended for non-pregnant patients treated with the recommended regimens, unless therapeutic compliance is in question, symptoms persist, or reinfection is suspected 8, 9
Retesting is recommended for all patients approximately 3 months after treatment due to high rates of reinfection 8, 10
Diagnostic testing performed less than 3 weeks after treatment completion is not valid because false-negative results may occur due to persistent infections with limited numbers of organisms, and false-positive results may occur due to continued presence of dead organisms 8, 11, 10

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all women with chlamydial infection should be retested approximately 3 months after treatment 8, 9
Providers should retest all women treated for chlamydial infection whenever they next seek medical care within the following 3-12 months, regardless of whether the patient believes their partners were treated 11, 10
Test-of-cure IS recommended for all pregnant women 3-4 weeks after completion of therapy, preferably using nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) to ensure therapeutic cure 9, 12

Patients should abstain from sexual intercourse for 7 days after single-dose therapy or until completion of a 7-day regimen, and until all sex partners have been treated 8, 11
Sex partners should be evaluated, tested, and treated if they had sexual contact with the patient during the 60 days preceding symptom onset or diagnosis 8, 10
The most recent sex partner should be evaluated and treated even if the last sexual contact was >60 days before symptom onset or diagnosis 11, 10