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Reproductive health is a broad topic for women that requires sensitivity. Women often ignore discomfort, especially during sex or itchiness around the vaginal region, thinking it is a mere bacterial infection. Most STDs are asymptomatic, making it hard to notice. Gonorrhea and chlamydia can cause fatal damages and effects like cancer, stillbirth, infertility, or even death. By visiting us at All Womens Care, you are assured of quality treatment, expert information on STDs, and confidentiality. Contact our doctors at if you are in the Los Angeles area.
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Std Prevention In 3 Steps
As previously mentioned, anyone who is sexually active can get an STD. And as you can see from the information provided above, some of these diseases dont show any signs or symptoms.
It is for these reasons that you should do the following if you want to reduce your risk of contracting any sexually transmitted disease:
Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection Among Women Reporting Sexual Activity With Women Screened In Family Planning Clinics In The Pacific Northwest 1997 To 2005
Contributors
D. Singh and J. M. Marrazzo originated the study design, identified key results, and facilitated the interpretation of the findings into the writing of the article. D. N. Fine oversaw the data collection, collaborated on the analysis, and provided content review for the results and interpretation of key findings.
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Who Should Be Tested For Chlamydia
You should go to your health provider for a test if you have symptoms of chlamydia, or if you have a partner who has a sexually transmitted disease. Pregnant women should get a test when they go to their first prenatal visit.
People at higher risk should get checked for chlamydia every year:
- Sexually active women 25 and younger
- Older women who have new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted disease
- Men who have sex with men
How Can Stis Be Passed From Woman To Woman
Exchangingbodily fluids
When bodily fluids are exchanged, bacteria and viruses can be transmitted from one person to another. This can occur in different ways such as oral sex, or by touching yourself and your partner with the same hand.
Skin-to-skincontact
STIs such as Syphilis, Genital Warts and Herpes can becontracted through sexual contact alone. This means that it is possible tocatch an STI even if you do not have intercourse.
Sharing sextoys
STIs can be passed on through sex toys which have not been cleaned properly between use by two or more people.
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How Can I Protect Myself From Chlamydia
Its not always possible to know if a current or potential partner has chlamydia, though, especially since many people with chlamydia never notice symptoms. With prevention in mind, its a good idea to make safer sex practices a regular part of your sex life:
- Dont share sex toys, but if you do, wash them after each use and cover toys used for penetration with a condom.
- Have sex with only one partner, who only has sex with you.
Who Should Get Tested For Chlamydia
Because chlamydia is very common and often has no symptoms, anyone who is sexually active should think about being tested. Because chlamydia is very common among young women, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend sexually active women age 25 or younger get tested once per year. Chlamydia testing is also recommended for women with new or multiple sexual partners and pregnant women.
Anyone who is sexually active should talk with a healthcare provider about whether they need testing for chlamydia or other STIs. Dont be afraid to speak openly about your sex life, as you can get the best care by having an honest discussion with your healthcare provider.
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How Is Chlamydia Testing Done
STD Express Clinic uses the same NAAT to detect the presence of chlamydia infection. Once again, a urine sample of the patient is needed to conduct the test. The test aims to detect the presence of the bacterium Chlamydia Trachomatis. Testing takes only a couple of minutes. Just like the gonorrhea testing, this one too does not involve any swabbing, pricking, or fasting.
Just like gonorrhea, at STD Express Clinic, you could be treated for chlamydia on the same day at an additional cost of $50. If your chlamydia test results come out positive, it is advisable to get yourself checked for gonorrhea as well.
You may get in touch with the clinic doctor anytime and find out about the possible treatment options.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Chlamydia
Chlamydia is known as a silent infection because most infected people are asymptomatic and lack abnormal physical examination findings. Estimates of the proportion of chlamydia-infected people who develop symptoms vary by setting and study methodology two published studies that incorporated modeling techniques to address limitations of point prevalence surveys estimated that only about 10% of men and 5-30% of women with laboratory-confirmed chlamydial infection develop symptoms.21.22 The incubation period of chlamydia is poorly defined. However, given the relatively slow replication cycle of the organism, symptoms may not appear until several weeks after exposure in those persons who develop symptoms.
In women, the bacteria initially infect the cervix, where the infection may cause signs and symptoms of cervicitis , and sometimes the urethra, which may result in signs and symptoms of urethritis . Infection can spread from the cervix to the upper reproductive tract , causing pelvic inflammatory disease , which may be asymptomatic 23 or acute, with typical symptoms of abdominal and/or pelvic pain, along with signs of cervical motion tenderness, and uterine or adnexal tenderness on examination.
Men who are symptomatic typically have urethritis, with a mucoid or watery urethral discharge and dysuria. A minority of infected men develop epididymitis , presenting with unilateral testicular pain, tenderness, and swelling.24
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How Can I Prevent Getting Chlamydia And Gonorrhea
Get some information about their sexual history. Get some information about any recently treated diseases. Have safe sex with right utilization of a condom. Utilize a condom each time you have vaginal, oral, or butt-centric sex. Get tried for explicitly sent diseases in the event that you or your partner are not mono
gamous
Gonorrhea Vs Chlamydia: Whats The Difference
The two most common STDs are chlamydia and gonorrhea. Both conditions are caused by an overgrowth of bacteria. Chlamydia is caused by an overgrowth of the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis, while gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
In terms of symptoms, both chlamydia and gonorrhea may result in a burning sensation during urination and an abnormal discharge from the genitals.
Most people who have chlamydia or gonorrhea do not present symptoms. Even if you do have symptoms, they may not appear for weeks after sexual intercourse with an infected partner.
Because chlamydia and gonorrhea present nearly identical symptoms or none at all, it is important to frequently get tested for STDs.
In a 2015 report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the United States sees 20 million new cases of STDs every year. STD rates have reached a record high in recent years.
Each year almost 4 million people will contract chlamydia or gonorrhea. Continuing reading to find out more about chlamydia vs gonorrhea.
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How Can You Tell If You Have Chlamydia
You can have chlamydia without experiencing any symptoms. In fact, many womenâapproximately 70% of those who are infectedâare completely asymptomatic, which means that they are also unaware that they are carrying Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria.
The lack of symptoms can cause health problems over time because an untreated chlamydia infection can lead to complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease . Also, if you become pregnant and have chlamydia, you may develop an ectopic pregnancy . Some people with untreated chlamydia may develop reactive arthritis, a form of joint inflammation thatâs caused by the chlamydia bacterium . Untreated chlamydia can also damage your reproductive organs, which could potentially lead to infertility.
Thankfully, effective treatments exist for chlamydial infections. But to get treatment, you first need to determine if you have chlamydia in the first place. As mentioned above, you could have chlamydia without any symptoms. But there are certain telltale symptoms you may experience that can help identify it.
Chlamydia symptoms in women look different. You may develop abnormal vaginal discharge, and you may experience a burning sensation when urinating. You might also experience pelvic pain, which could manifest as lower abdominal pain. Occasionally, you can develop spotting .
Where Can I Get Tested And Treated For Chlamydia
You can be tested and treated for chlamydia at family planning health centers, private doctors offices, STI clinics, hospital clinics, and health departments. If you are less than 25 years old and have ever had sexual intercourse, talk to your health care provider about getting tested for chlamydia at least once a year and more often if you change sex partners, or you have had chlamydia or other STIs before.
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What Are The Treatments For Chlamydia
Antibiotics will cure the infection. You may get a one-time dose of the antibiotics, or you may need to take medicine every day for 7 days. Antibiotics cannot repair any permanent damage that the disease has caused.
To prevent spreading the disease to your partner, you should not have sex until the infection has cleared up. If you got a one-time dose of antibiotics, you should wait 7 days after taking the medicine to have sex again. If you have to take medicine every day for 7 days, you should not have sex again until you have finished taking all of the doses of your medicine.
It is common to get a repeat infection, so you should get tested again about three months after treatment.
How Do You Catch Chlamydia
You can get chlamydia through:
- Unprotected oral sex and sex without a condom. You dont even have to experience penetration to get it as you can transmit the bacteria by only touching genitals together.
- Sharing sex toys.
- Infected mothers who have the infection might transfer it to their newborn baby during birth. For this reason, all expecting mothers should double-check for chlamydia with their OB-GYN.
You cant catch chlamydia through kissing, hugging, sharing baths, towels, swimming pools, toilet seats, or cutlery.
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Four Curable Sexually Transmitted Infections
Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis, and syphilis are four potential outcomes of sex that wed all like to avoid. However, according to new global estimates, each day there are more than one million new cases of these sexually transmitted infections.
The worrying thing is, even though we have never known more about how to prevent these infections, rates of infection remain very high worldwide.
The good news is, these 4 infections are curable.
How Long Does It Take For Chlamydia To Go Away After Treatment
Chlamydia infection usually clears after one week of completing your antibiotic treatment. During treatment, you should avoid drinking alcohol as this can reduce how effective the antibiotic is.
You should also avoid having sex during treatment as you could still pass on the infection to your partner. It is common for partners to pass chlamydia between one another if they continue to have sex without completing their treatment, causing repeated infections.
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Univariate And Multivariate Analysis
The distribution of sexual history with male and female partners, sexual practice with women, pregnancy, alcohol intake, and smoking is shown in tables on the STI website . Past or current smoking was the only variable significantly related to diagnosis of any STI at a level of p< 0.05. Lifetime number of female partners, use of dental dams and employment status were significant at a level of p< 0.1 and so were also included in multivariate analysis . None of the other risk factor variables were significantly associated with diagnosis of any STI.
Table 2
Crude and adjusted odds ratios for the diagnosis of STIs
A non-significant trend was observed with increasing numbers of female sexual partners . Odds of any STI increased with a history of sex with men, although this was not statistically significant. There was a non-significant reduction in the odds of any STI with employment and with the use of dental dams.
Gonorrhoea Chlamydia And Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
In common with others we found that infection with gonorrhoea, chlamydia, or PID was present in WSW, but was diagnosed only in those who reported sexual histories with men. These results suggest that routine or repeated screening for gonorrhoea and chlamydia in women who have no history of sex with men may not be necessary.
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Is Chlamydia Dangerous
If chlamydia is not treated, it can cause serious health problems. The infection usually begins on the cervix, but if its not treated, it can spread to the fallopian tubes and/or ovaries and cause pelvic inflammatory disease . PID causes pain in the lower part of your abdomen and can lead to problems with getting pregnant or with ectopic or tubal pregnancy , upper belly pain and chronic pelvic pain. The risk of these complications increases with multiple infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 10-15% of women who have untreated chlamydia will have symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease . If pregnant, chlamydia increases the risk of pre-term delivery and infections in the eyes or lungs of the baby.
What Do I Need To Do
- In NSW, PDPT is being offered at some Publicly Funded Sexual Health Clinics and some Family Planning Clinics call 1800 451 624 to find out where in NSW. If you live outside of NSW check with your doctor as its not available everywhere in Australia
- Make sure you read or print off these fact sheets for you and your partner/s. This one is for you and this one is for your partners
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How Is Chlamydia Spread Is The Treatment For Chlamydia The Same As Gonorrhea
If you have actually had chlamydia and also were treated in the past, you can still get contaminated once again. This can happen if you have unguarded sex with a person that has chlamydia.
If you are pregnant, you can offer chlamydia to your baby during childbirth.
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Tips For Safer Sex Between Women
- If you’re using sex toys, use a new condom for each partner or between penetration of different body openings. Sex toys should be washed with soap and water between sessions. Find out more about cleaning sex toys.
- Some infections can be transmitted by hands, fingers and mutual vulval rubbing. Wash your hands before and after sex.
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Our Top Tips For Safer Sex
Wash yourhands
To prevent spreading an infection with your hands or fingers,you should wash your hands before and after sex.
Clean yoursex toys
When using sex toys, you should use a new condom for every new partner and for each different part of the body. Sex toys should be washed between each use to prevent the potential spread of infection.
Avoid oralsex if you have any cuts in your mouth or use a dental dam
You Cant Catch Chlamydia From A Toilet Seat
Many people believe they can get chlamydia from a toilet seat. This isnt true.
Theres no need to worry about catching chlamydia in a public bathroom. Even if you share a toilet seat with someone who has it, you cant get the infection. You also cant catch chlamydia from sharing items like towels.
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Prevalence Of Sexually Transmitted Infections
There were no significant differences in prevalence of STIs when stratified by history of sex with men . However PID, chlamydia and gonorrhoea were diagnosed only in women with a history of sex with men.
Table 1
Prevalence of STIs in WSW, stratified by history of sex with men
Three women who had not been sexually active with men were diagnosed with one of the following: genital warts, primary genital herpes, and trichomoniasis. All three women reported engaging in a large variety of sexual practices with female partners so it is not possible to draw conclusions about modes of transmission.
Two women were diagnosed with hepatitis C both had histories of injecting drug use. There were no cases of HIV, syphilis, or hepatitis B. However, while most subjects were tested for syphilis, a minority were tested for HIV or hepatitis, so we cannot estimate prevalence rates.
How Is Chlamydia Transmitted
Chlamydia is a bacterial infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Itâs also considered a sexually transmitted infection , which means that it can spread between sex partners through any kind of sexual contact. This contact is not limited to vaginal intercourse you can also contract oral chlamydia through oral sex, although it is a less common cause of Chlamydia trachomatis infections. Because sexual contact increases your risk, itâs a good idea to know if you have an STD before you have intercourse with a new partner.
In short, there are many different ways you can contract or spread chlamydia. To protect your sexual health and the health of your sexual partner, get tested for chlamydia before beginning any new relationship.
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