CDC is funding a Johns Hopkins University study to see if Maryland women will use a kit to test themselves for chlamydia at home. "Many women are left unaware for years that they have an STD because symptoms do not commonly appear for long period after infection," said Charlotte Gaydos, associate professor of medicine at Hopkins. It can take two to three years before an infected woman develops pelvic inflammatory disease — long enough to leave many women infertile, she said.

The kit, designed to look like a mail-order prescription, contains a sterile vaginal swab and instructions for using the test. Women mail the sample to a laboratory for testing using sealed containers and a postage-paid return envelope. Results are obtained through a secure telephone number.

"If this home-test kit works, we will have another tool in our efforts to reduce the spread of STDs through outreach tactics for disease prevention," said Gaydos. "We can also use these tests as an early warning system to control future outbreaks, both locally and nationally."

CDC recommends all sexually active people under age 25 regularly test for common STDs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea. Of the 18.9 million new STD infections in 2000, half are among teens and young people ages 15-24, CDC says. For more information, visit www.iwantthekit.org.