Professors Peter Timms and Ken Beagley from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) said the vaccinated koalas, which are at Brisbane's Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, were mounting a good response to the vaccine.

Young women would accept age-based screening for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, but would want this test to be offered to everyone, rather than to people ‘singled out’ according to their sexual history.

Young women aged 20 or younger are more susceptible to genital Chlamydia infection which is highly detrimental to both mother and child in pregnancy. A study in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published by Wiley-Blackwell finds age to be the most important risk factor of the Chlamydia infection and recommends that all women under 25 be screened for the disease in pregnancy.

Genetically engineered mice may hold the key to helping scientists from Queensland University of Technology and Harvard hasten the development of a vaccine to protect adolescent girls against the most common sexually transmitted disease, Chlamydia.

The sexually transmitted infection Chlamydia has been shown to damage male as well as female fertility. The infection often goes undiagnosed because there are few obvious symptoms but is known to cause infertility in women if untreated.

Health professionals are trying to cope with an explosion in the rate of chlamydia infections in Australia, particularly amongst young people. The sexually-transmitted disease, which can lead to infertility, often has no symptoms and poses a challenge for screening programs.

Proactive chlamydia screening for young adults is an expensive intervention that probably does not represent good value for money, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.

The first Australian trials of a vaccine developed by Queensland University of Technology that could save Australia's iconic koala from contracting chlamydia are planned to begin later this year.