Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

Today, over a century after the first report on the links between sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), adnexitis, and infertility in women, Noeggerath's finding has become a serious public health problem. The past decade's epidemic of STDs²has been accompanied by an epidemic of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).³Trailing after the STD-PID epidemic have been epidemics of sequelae, such as infertility, chronic pain, and ectopic pregnancy.³These threats to the fecundity of millions of young women can and must be met. This theme issue ofThe Journalpresents modern thinking on PID and its sequelae, as well as research challenges for the future. Pelvic inflammatory disease as a major public health problem is illustrated by Aral and coauthors,⁴who report that one of 10 American women suffers from PID during their reproductive years. As calculated by Washington and Katz,⁵each year, 1 million US women seek