Although the management of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is improving in general practice, most patients are still failing to be treated according to national guidelines, a UK study has shown. The British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) has published guidelines for the management of PID which includes tests that are routinely available in primary care and antibiotics that are easily obtained from community pharmacists. The investigators used information from the General Practice Research Database (GPRD), a database of anonymised longitudinal patient records from 460 general practices. 'A total of 3,797 women were coded as having a first episode of PID during the study period; the incidence appeared to decrease from 19.3 to 8.9/10,000 person-years. The National Chlamydia Screening Programme had just been rolled out at the beginning of the study period; in theory, screening and treating for chlamydia may prevent cases of PID but this relationship cannot be substantiated from this study alone.'