Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the UK. It constitutes a major public health problem given that the majority of infections are asymptomatic which can lead to serious long-term medical consequences if not treated. This paper describes a System Dynamics model for capturing Chlamydia infection dynamics within a population, incorporating the behaviour of different risk groups, and provides a cost–benefit study for screening using data collected from the Department of Health opportunistic Chlamydia screening programme in Portsmouth. Furthermore, we demonstrate that high-risk groups are key in determining the overall infection dynamics of the system, and quantify screening rates required to manage infection prevalence within the wider population.
