A new urine test will allow doctors to diagnose Chlamydia infection in men painlessly within an hour, enabling them to treat the infection at once.

The Chlamydia Rapid Test has been shown to correctly identify Chlamydia infection in 84% of cases.

Chlamydia is the most common sexually-transmitted bacterial infection in the UK. The disease is usually asymptomatic. If untreated it may cause reduced fertility and other problems.

Once diagnosed, Chlamydia can be treated with a one-off antibiotic pill. However, until now, male rapid tests for Chlamydia have been relatively inaccurate and involved painful urethral swabs.

"Without an effective and rapid testing programme for men, we are unlikely to succeed in efforts to control Chlamydia infection," said Dr Helen Lee of the University of Cambridge. "This new test is both accurate and swift, allowing men attending the clinics to be tested and treated on site in one visit."

The Chlamydia Rapid Test, a urine test developed by Dr Lee and colleagues at Diagnostics for the Real World (DRW) and the University of Cambridge, uses a signal amplification system to boost the test's sensitivity and gives the result in less than an hour.

A recent evaluation of the test, with samples taken from over 1,200 men at two clinical sites, showed that it correctly identified Chlamydia infection in 84.1% of samples - which is more accurate than other rapid tests.

The Chlamydia Rapid Test has received regulatory approval and is already used in France. It is hoped that it will be of major value in the developing world, where specific diagnostic tests for Chlamydia are rarely available.

For more details, visit www.realworld-group.com.