Comparing Trichomoniasis And Chlamydia
Differentiating between trichomoniasis and chlamydia can be difficult because they present many of the same symptoms or show no symptoms at all. Can trichomoniasis be confused with chlamydia? Yes, it is possible to confuse the two. If you are worried you may have contracted an STD, whether chlamydia or trichomoniasis, you should get tested as soon as possible. MyLAB Box offers Safe Box, an at home STD test kit that will test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, and trichomoniasis.
Remember, being symptom-free does not mean that you are not infected.
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 Can I Prevent Trichomoniasis
If youre sexually active, you can take these steps to protect yourself against getting or spreading trich and other STDs:
- Get tested routinely for trich and other STDs.
- Get treated if you have trich or other STDs.
- Tell your sexual partners if you have trich so they can get tested and treated.
- Engage in a monogamous relationship with one sexual partner.
- Limit your number of sexual partners.
You May Like: Pink Antibiotic Pill For Chlamydia
How Do I Test For Chlamydia
You can get tested for chlamydia even if you dont have any symptoms.
In some countries you can get a self-testing kit to do at home.
If you test positive for chlamydia, its important to tell any recent sexual partner/s so they can also get tested, and treated if necessary. If you need advice about how to do this, speak to your healthcare professional. You should also test for other STIs.
How Does Chlamydia Spread
As chlamydial infection often has no symptoms, a person may have the infection and pass it on to a sexual partner without knowing.
It is not possible to pass on chlamydia through:
- contact with a toilet seat
- sharing a sauna
- touching a surface that a person with chlamydia has touched
- standing close to a person who has the infection
- coughs or sneezes
- conjunctivitis or pneumonia in the newborn
Don’t Miss: Can Guys Get Tested For Chlamydia
How Can You Prevent Sexually Transmitted Infections
Here are some ways to help prevent STIs.
- Limit your sex partners. Sex with one partner who has sex only with you can reduce your risk of getting an STI.
- Talk with your partner or partners about STIs before you have sex. Find out if they are at risk for an STI. Remember that it’s possible to have an STI and not know it.
- Wait to have sex with new partners until you’ve each been tested.
- Don’t have sex if you have symptoms of an infection or if you are being treated for an STI.
- Use a condom every time you have sex. Condoms are the only form of birth control that also helps prevent STIs.
- Don’t share sex toys. But if you do share them, use a condom and clean the sex toys between each use.
Vaccines are available for some STIs, such as HPV. Ask your doctor for more information.
Chlamydia And Trichomoniasis: Causes Treatment And Prevention
Chlamydia and trichomoniasis are both sexually transmitted infections. Chlamydia is caused by bacteria, while trichomoniasis is caused by tiny single cell protozoa. Both can be treated by adhering to medications prescribed by doctor, but these infections can lead to serious health complications and permanent damages.
Trichomoniasis usually manifests signs and symptoms such as yellowish discharge with very unpleasant odor accompanied with extreme itching, swelling, and redness of the vulva and a burning sensation during urination. Chlamydia can be harder to detect because sometimes it doesnt give out signs of infection. But the usual symptoms include pain in the lower abdomen and pelvis and light bleeding immediately after sexual encounter.
Read Also: How Long Till Symptoms Of Chlamydia Show
How Is Trichomoniasis Managed Or Treated
Without treatment, trich can last for months or even years. It doesnt go away on its own. The entire time youre infected, you can give the STD to your sexual partners.
Oral anti-infective medications kill trich. Your healthcare provider may prescribe metronidazole or tinidazole . Its important to keep the following points in mind while undergoing treatment:
- A single medication dose cures up to 95% of infected women. Men and women may need to take the medication for five to seven days.
- You and your sexual partners must be treated for trich or you will continue to pass the infection back and forth.
- You shouldnt have sex for one week after finishing the medication to give the drug time to kill off the infection and for symptoms to clear up. Having sex too soon can lead to reinfection.
- You should see your healthcare provider in three months to ensure youre no longer infected.
Can A Treated Std Come Back
Monique Rainford, MD, is board-certified in obstetrics-gynecology, and currently serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Medicine. She is the former chief of obstetrics-gynecology at Yale Health.
Chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomoniasis can all be treated, and often cured, with antibiotics. While its important that you find treatment for your STD, having your STD treated is not a guarantee that it will never come back. You have to use your medication as directed, and you also have to be careful about prevention so you wont get re-infected.
Dont Miss: Is It Possible To Get Rid Of Chlamydia Without Antibiotics
Don’t Miss: Amox 500 Gg 849 Cure Chlamydia
What Are The Complications Of Trichomoniasis
Untreated trich increases your risk of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus if youre exposed to the virus. Untreated HIV can lead to AIDS. Women who have trich and HIV are more likely to pass both diseases on to their partners. For this reason, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that HIV-positive women get tested for trich at least once a year.
Recommended Reading: My Partner Has Chlamydia But I Don T
Barriers And Challenges To Diagnosis
The medical system does not fully meet the needs of some populations, including young people and men who have sex with men, regarding their sexual and reproductive health.
Ongoing barriers among young people include reluctance to use available health services, limited access to STI testing, worries about confidentiality, and the shame and stigma associated with STIs.
Men who have sex with men have a higher incidence of STIs than other groups. Since STIs are associated with a higher risk of human immunodeficiency virus infection, it is important to detect, diagnose, and manage STIs in this groupand in all high-risk groups. Rectal STIs are an independent risk factor for incident HIV infection. In addition, many men who have sex with men face challenges navigating the emotional, physical, and cognitive aspects of adolescence, a voyage further complicated by mental health issues, unprotected sexual encounters, and substance abuse in many, especially among minority youth. These same factors also impair their ability to access resources for preventing and treating HIV and other STIs.
You May Like: Why Is Penicillin Ineffective Against Chlamydia
You May Like: Does Chlamydia Go Away For Guys
What Should I Do Now
If your partner tests positive for trichomoniasis or you have symptoms of it, see a healthcare provider to get tested. This is the only way to know if you have the infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a tool that helps you find free STI testing in your area.
If you do test positive for trichomoniasis, you might also be tested for chlamydia or gonorrhea. People with trichomoniasis often have these STIs, too. Having trichomoniasis can also increase your risk of developing another STI, including HIV, in the future, so its important to follow up with treatment.
Trichomoniasis is easily treated with antibiotics, such as metronidazole and tinidazole . Make sure you take the full course of antibiotics. You should also wait about a week after you finish your antibiotics before having sex again.
If your partner gave it to you, theyll also need treatment to avoid reinfecting you.
Is There A Home Test For Trichomoniasis
Home trichomoniasis tests allow people to take a vaginal fluid or urine sample which is then sent to a lab for testing. These tests can be purchased as trichomoniasis-only tests or as multiple-STD tests. Results will take two to four days to receive. The cost of the lab test is usually included in the cost of the kit.
Also Check: Antibiotics For Chlamydia At Walmart
How To Stay Safe
So, what can you do to stay safe?
When used correctly, condoms offer one of the most effective methods of protection against STIs, including HIV. Female condoms are also effective and safe.
We are often not aware that they may have an STI.
Any sexually active person can catch an STI, those who change partners frequently or do not use condoms are at higher risk. Previous successful treatment for an STI doesn’t make you immune to catching the infection again.
An outreach worker discusses health issues with young people in Cambodia.Juan Daniel Torres, Courtesy of Photoshare
Summary Of Chlamydia Vs Trichomonas Infection
- Chlamydiacauses either a pneumonia infection or an STD depending on the species of bacterium that s involved.
- Trichomonas is a parasite that causes an STD infection in men and women.
- Chlamydia is caused by a bacterium that invades the cells of the host and lives inside these cells.
- Trichomonas is caused by a flagellated protozoan parasite that lives outside the cells of the host.
- Having many sexual partners increases the risk of catching C. trachomatis and T. vaginalis.
Don’t Miss: Natural Remedies To Cure Chlamydia
Possible Though Unlikely Sources Of Trich:
There are a few ways that trich can be spread without having sexual relations:
- Public Pools: If the water in a community swimming pool is not properly cleaned and filtered, it is possible for the parasite to survive and infect others.
- Sharing damp clothing, towels or swimsuits: Much like the pool, if clothes are not properly washed, it is technically possible for the infection to spread from wearer to wearer.
Of course, please remember that sexual activity is by far the most common source of infection. While these potential sources can be comforting to a worried partner, they are quite unlikely to actually be the cause. Compared to skin-to-skin contact, the reports of trich being spread through these means are few and far between.
Recommended Reading: Can Boric Acid Cure Chlamydia
Can Garlic Cure Trichomoniasis
One study showed that a daily garlic capsule tablet was more successful at clearing bacterial vaginosis than metronidazole, but these results have not been verified. T. vaginalis, however, is not bacteria. It is important that any trichomoniasis treatment that relies on or includes natural remedies also include initial testing and a test-of-cure follow-up with a healthcare provider to make sure the infection has been eradicated.
You May Like: What Medicine Do You Get For Chlamydia
Main Differences Between Chlamydia And Trichomonas
Chlamydia Vs Gonorrhea: Symptoms Test & Treatment
03 Aug 2021
Written by Andrea Pinto on August 4th, 2021
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are both common sexually transmitted infections that affect many people around the world. And although these two conditions share some similarities, there are also differences between chlamydia vs. gonorrhea that can help us distinguish between them.
Read on to discover the main differences between chlamydia vs. gonorrhea.
Also Check: What To Take If You Have Chlamydia
Trichomoniasis In Pregnant Women
Trichomoniasis during pregnancy raises the risk of prelabor rupture of membranes and preterm delivery. Treating the infection may not always reduce this risk, but it can relieve symptoms and prevent infection in the newborn. If you are pregnant and have trichomoniasis, talk to your doctor about the pros and cons of treatment.
Vaginal suppositories and creams arenât effective in curing trich, but they may reduce discomfort and swelling in the genital area.
Management Of Sex Partners
Concurrent treatment of all sex partners is vital for preventing reinfections. Current partners should be referred for presumptive therapy. Partners also should be advised to abstain from intercourse until they and their sex partners have been treated and any symptoms have resolved. EPT might have a role in partner management for trichomoniasis and can be used in states where permissible by law however, no partner management intervention has been demonstrated to be superior in reducing reinfection rates . Although no definitive data exist to guide treatment for partners of persons with persistent or recurrent trichomoniasis among whom nonadherence and reinfection are unlikely, partners might benefit from being evaluated and receiving treatment .
Don’t Miss: Can You Treat Chlamydia With Over The Counter Drugs
Most Importantly Remember How Long Trichomoniasis Can Live In A Body:
Heres one last bit of hope. For partners hoping for a more realistic source of infection, keep in mind the length of time that trichomoniasis can live in a body. Due to the stealthy nature of the infection, a person may unknowingly carry trich for months without realizing it.
In this sense, this can be a bright light for concerned couples. After all, it is possible that your partner may have been infected during a previous sexual encounter, but was never aware of the infection. Now that the symptoms are present, it seems like a brand new case of trich. Of course, it is also possible that you were infected by a past encounter and never realized it. No matter what, the most important piece of the puzzle is that you and your partner test regularly.
Possible Though Unlikely Sources Of Trich
There are a few ways that trich can be spread without having sexual relations:
- Public Pools. If the water in a community swimming pool is not properly cleaned and filtered, it is possible for the parasite to survive and infect others.
- Sharing damp clothing, towels or swimsuits: Much like the pool, if clothes are not properly washed, it is technically possible for the infection to spread from wearer to wearer.
Of course, please remember that sexual activity is by far the most common source of infection. While these potential sources can be comforting to a worried partner, they are quite unlikely to actually be the cause. Compared to skin-to-skin contact, the reports of trich being spread through these means are few and far between.
Read Also: Best At Home Chlamydia Test
Risk Factors And Treatment:
People who have multiple sexual partners and who do not use any form of protection are at a greater risk of contracting C. trachomatis. The pneumonia caused by C. pneumoniae is most often caught by the very young and very old who are in a crowded situation where sick people may sneeze or cough and thus spread the infection. Antibiotics can be used to treat both of the different types of chlamydia infections.
Treatment For Chlamydia And Trichomoniasis
In women, chlamydial infection of the lower genital tract occurs in the endocervix. It can cause an odorless, mucoid vaginal discharge, typically with no external pruritus, although many women have minimal or no symptoms.2 An ascending infection can result in pelvic inflammatory disease .
Physical findings of urogenital chlamydial infection in women include cervicitis with a yellow or cloudy mucoid discharge from the os. The cervix tends to bleed easily when rubbed with a polyester swab or scraped with a spatula. Chlamydial infection cannot be distinguished from other urogenital infections by symptoms alone. Clinical microscopy and the amine test can be used to help differentiate chlamydial infection from other lower genital tract infections such as urinary tract infection, bacterial vaginosis, and trichomoniasis.3 In addition, chlamydial infection in the lower genital tract does not cause vaginitis thus, if vaginal findings are present, they usually indicate a different diagnosis or a coinfection.
Some women with C. trachomatis infection develop urethritis symptoms may consist of dysuria without frequency or urgency. A urethral discharge can be elicited by compressing the urethra during the pelvic examination. Urinalysis usually will show more than five white blood cells per high-powered field, but urethral cultures generally are negative.
Recommended Reading: How To Know Your Chlamydia Is Gone