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HomeTrendingCan You Tell How Long You Ve Had Chlamydia

Can You Tell How Long You Ve Had Chlamydia

All Stis Are Different

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Now that youve learned the incubation period for chlamydia and its window period, you might be wondering about other common STIs. Well, when it comes to sexually transmitted infections, each STI is different. As such, the timing also differs when it comes to incubation periods, window periods, testing, and re-testing.

When it comes to your sexual health, you can never be too careful. Every sexually active person should be vigilant about tracking down and eradicating these potentially dangerous STIs. After all, testing is the only way for someone to know their status for sure.

How Can I Reduce My Chances Of Getting Chlamydia

If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting chlamydia:

  • Be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and has negative STI test results
  • Use latex condoms the right way every time you have sex.
  • PrEP, Pre Exposure Prophylaxis, a pill taken daily to prevent HIV infection, will NOT protect you from chlamydia. PrEP is also known by the brand name Truvada or Descovy.

    Having chlamydia once does NOT protect you from getting it again.

    For more information, visit CDCs chlamydia webpage featuring factsheets, posters, videos, statistics and more. Please contact your local health department for questions and reporting issues.

    To submit a question or comment to the HIV/STD/HepC Program, please click on the suggestion box to access our online form.

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    Should My Partners Be Tested For Chlamydia

    If you receive a chlamydia diagnosis, your partners need to be tested, too. Since this bacterial infection is highly contagious, it spreads easily through sexual contact.

    You and your partners may need regular testing until the infection fully disappears. In the meantime, its a good idea to use barrier methods during sexual contact, such as using condoms.

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    When To See A Doctor

    If a person has symptoms of chlamydia after testing and treatment or thinks that they have come into contact with chlamydia again, they should see their doctor.

    Females are less likely than males to have symptoms of chlamydia, so testing is especially important for them.

    The recommend chlamydia testing every year for the following groups of people:

    • sexually active females under the age of 25 years
    • females over the age of 25 years who have new or multiple sexual partners
    • anyone with a sexual partner who has an STI
    • sexually active gay and bisexual males

    Pregnant women should have a chlamydia test early on in their pregnancy.

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    How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Without Knowing

    A note from Cleveland Clinic

    It can be embarrassing to talk about anything sex-related with your healthcare provider, including STI prevention. But your sex life is an important part of your health that your provider needs to know about to care for you. Not getting the treatment you need for chlamydia can pose serious risks to your health. Speak with your provider about getting regularly screened for chlamydia and other STIs to reduce your risks of complications. Practice safer sex to prevent the spread of chlamydia.

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    How Is Chlamydia Diagnosed

    The most common test for chlamydia is called a nucleic acid amplification test . Your provider takes a sample of fluid by doing a vaginal/cervical swab or collecting a urine sample. Then, they send the sample off to a lab to check for the bacteria that causes chlamydia. Your provider may do the test in an office, or they may ask you to do an at-home chlamydia test. Follow your providers instructions carefully to ensure you get accurate test results.

    Because most chlamydia cases are asymptomatic, its important to get screened for chlamydia even if you dont notice any signs of infection. The CDC recommends that sexually active cisgender women who are high-risk for chlamydia get screened regularly. Women, more so than men, experience the most severe complications from chlamydia. Transgender men and nonbinary individuals with vaginas should be screened regularly, too, as they can experience the same complications of chlamydia.

    Youre considered high-risk if you:

    • Have had chlamydia infections previously.

    Cisgender men, or trans and nonbinary individuals with penises, should be screened for chlamydia if:

    • They live in a setting where chlamydia spreads frequently, like correctional facilities, adolescent clinics and sexual health clinics.
    • They have sex with other men.

    How Is Chlamydia Spread

    It can also spread from an infected pregnant woman to her baby during childbirth, and it can infect the eyes if fluids containing chlamydia trachomatis get in them.

    If someone has chlamydia and is sexually active before finishing their full treatment , they can still spread chlamydia.

    And anyone who has had chlamydia and successfully treated it can get infected again.

    Using barrier protection during sexual intercourse can decrease the risk.

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    Im Pregnant How Does Chlamydia Affect My Baby

    If you are pregnant and have chlamydia, you can give the infection to your baby during delivery. This can cause an eye infection or pneumonia in your baby. Having chlamydia may also make it more likely to deliver your baby early.

    If you are pregnant, you should receive testing for chlamydia at your first prenatal visit. Talk to your healthcare provider about getting the correct examination, testing, and treatment. Testing and treatment are the best ways to prevent health problems.

    How Can I Reduce My Risk Of Getting Chlamydia

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    If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting chlamydia:

    • Be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and has negative STD test results
    • Use latex condoms the right way every time you have sex.

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    Does Azithromycin Also Cure Chlamydia

    Azithromycin was the first choice antibiotic to treat chlamydia until February 2019 when BASHH guidance was issued recommending a 7-day course of doxycycline as the first choice treatment based on recent data. Azithromycin is now recommended only for pregnant women and those with an allergy to doxycycline.

    How Will I Get My Results

    Your doctor will call you with the results of your test. Be sure you give your doctor your preferred phone number where you can have privacy, such as a mobile phone number. If you dont want them to leave you a voicemail, be sure you tell them before you leave your appointment.

    A urine test is much faster to analyze. Your doctor should be able to tell you the results on the same day as your appointment. The downside is that urine tests may not be as accurate as traditional swab testing.

    However, urine testing may be more suitable for people assigned male at birth. Its also used for more advanced signs of chlamydia, as your body will have a greater number of bacteria to detect at this stage.

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    What If I’m Pregnant

    During delivery, the infection can spread to the newborn from the birth canal. It can cause eye infection or pneumonia. There may also be an association with preterm labour and low birth weight. Screening and treatment of chlamydia during pregnancy can prevent these complications. This is not part of the routine NHS antenatal screening. Doxycycline cannot be taken during pregnancy, but azithromycin is safe and effective.

    How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Without Knowing

    How Long Can A Male Have Chlamydia Without Knowing

    If youve had intercourse with an infected man or woman, chlamydia symptoms may appear between 1 3 weeks after contact.

    However, you may still be asymptomatic after a chlamydia infection. This is because chlamydia can be silent or dormant for months and years without showing symptoms.

    In men, about 50 70 percent will show symptoms of chlamydia while only 30 50 percent of women will be symptomatic. Absent symptoms of chlamydia do not mean absent infection. You should take chlamydia test to confirm if you have the infection or not.

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    How Will I Know If I Have Chlamydia

    You can only be certain you have chlamydia if you have a test.

    Anyone can get chlamydia. Youre more likely to have it if youre under 25, have a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner in the last year, and if you havent used condoms.

    You should have a test if:

    • you, or a partner, have or think you might have symptoms
    • youve recently had sex without a condom with a new partner
    • you, or a partner, have had sex without a condom with other partners
    • during a vaginal examination, your doctor or nurse says that the cervix is inflamed and/or theres an unusual discharge
    • a sexual partner tells you they have a sexually transmitted infection
    • you have another STI.

    If you live in England, and youre a woman who is under 25 and sexually active, its recommended that you have a chlamydia test when you change sexual partner and once a year.

    If youre a man who is under 25 and sexually active, its recommended that you have a chlamydia test once a year if you are not using condoms with new or casual partners.

    You could still have chlamydia even if a partner has tested negative. The only way to make sure you dont have chlamydia is to get tested yourself.

    If you have chlamydia, youll be encouraged to be tested for other STIs as you can have more than one STI at the same time.

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    Can You Pass Chlamydia On Without Symptoms

    Even if you are asymptomatic with Chlamydia, it is still possible to pass on the disease. The bacterial infection transmits via bodily fluids during sexual activity, therefore it is vitally important to practise safe sex and be tested regularly to ensure that you are clean of sexually transmitted infections. Visit our website to learn more about home testing.

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    How Do Men Get Treated For Chlamydia

    Meninfected with chlamydia will receive a prescribed drug, usually calleddoxycycline. This antibiotic is most typically used for treating chlamydia.However, if the patient is allergic to any of the ingredients in thisantibiotic, they will receive a different one with similar potency. Theantibiotics used for treatment can only be prescribed by your doctor.

    How Quickly Do Symptoms Show

    How do you know if you have a sexually transmitted infection (STI)?

    In many cases, chlamydia symptoms do not show up at all, making it possible for the infection to lie dormant in the body and cause long-term side effects when not treated.

    If someone with chlamydia does experience symptoms, the time it takes for them to show up may vary.

    For most people, though, it takes about 7-21 days after having unprotected sex with an infected partner. However, it can take longer.

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    Why Can’t I Repeat The Chlamydia Test After I’ve Taken My Treatment To Check It Worked

    You can, but it takes up to 6 weeks for the test to go back to negative after an infection. If you re-test too early a positive result can be a sign of continuing or re-infection, but it’s most likely to be positive from the initial infection, so it’s not at all helpful.

    If you are under 25 years of age, it is recommended to have a repeat test 3 months after treatment as a significant number of young people get repeat infections which are linked to an increased risk of complications.

    Chlamydia Infection May Have Long

    For women, the long-term effects of an untreated chlamydia infection may include:

    • Severe infection with pain and fever requiring a hospital stay
    • Pelvic inflammatory disease, an infection of the upper reproductive tract
    • Scarring in the reproductive tract that causes infertility
    • Higher risk of ectopic pregnancy

    Men are less likely than women to have major health problems linked to chlamydia, although they can develop epididymitis, an inflammation of a structure within the testicles called the epididymis that can result in infertility.

    A chlamydia infection can sometimes result in reactive arthritis in both men and women.

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    Can You Tell How Long Youve Had Chlamydia

    Is it possible to tell how long I ve had chlamydia? Not usually, because chlamydia often doesnt cause any symptoms. This means you can have the infection without knowing you could have had it for months or even years. Depending on how many people you ve had sex with, it can be hard to trace it to one person.

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    How Do You Know How Long You Have Had Chlamydia

    How Can You Tell If You Have Gonorrhea Or Chlamydia ...

    You cant tell how long youve had chlamydia by testing, physical exam, or in any other medical way, unless you have a record of a previous negative test. Chlamydia is one of those diseases that can be present in ones body for a very very long time without actually causing any noticeable problems. In women, 80-90% with chlamydia dont know they have it because they have no symptoms.

    Prevent reinfection by reducing the number of partners, using condoms, and avoiding sex until you and your partner have been tested.You may have gotten chlamydia before you were pregnant or while you were pregnant. There are safe, effective treatments for chlamydia for women who are pregnant.

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    Chlamydia Is Common But Many People Dont Realize They Have It

    About 1.7 million chlamydia infections were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2017, but the real number is likely higher because chlamydia is considered an underreported infection.

    The number of reported cases is substantially lower than the true estimated incidence, says Bradley Stoner, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and former president of the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association.

    The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System relies on state and local public health departments to collect and report data on chlamydia to the CDC. Those public health departments depend on individual physicians, hospitals, and laboratories to report cases of chlamydia to them. Accurate statistics require all parties to routinely comply with disease-reporting mandates.

    When To Seek Medical Advice

    If you have any symptoms of chlamydia, visit your GP, community contraceptive service or local genitourinary medicine clinic as soon as possible.

    Find a sexual health clinic.

    You should also get tested if you don’t have any symptoms but are concerned you could have a sexually transmitted infection .

    If you’re a woman, sexually active and under 25 in England, it’s recommended that you have a chlamydia test once a year, and when you have sex with new or casual partners.

    If you’re a man, sexually active and under 25 in England, it’s recommended that you have a chlamydia test once a year if you are not using condoms with new or casual partners.

    Read more about chlamydia diagnosis.

    Page last reviewed: 01 September 2021 Next review due: 01 September 2024

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    How Long Does It Take For Chlamydia Symptoms To Clear

    When taking antibiotics , symptoms usually settle quickly. Pain on passing urine and discharge go within a week, pelvic or testicular pain can take two weeks and menstrual irregularities should improve by the next cycle. Always complete the full course of antibiotic.

    Chlamydia is unlikely to go away without treatment. Although symptoms may subside temporarily, infection may persist in the body without treatment. It is important to seek diagnosis and treatment to get rid of the infection.

    How Can You Treat Chlamydia

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    Following a positive test, the most common and effective treatment for Chlamydia is a course of antibiotics, usually over the period of one week. You should abstain for sexual activity for one week following a successful course of antibiotics and ensure that regular sexual partners, as well as previous partners, are informed and tested.

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    How Is It Diagnosed

    Your doctor will ask you questions about your symptoms and your sexual history. You may also have a physical exam to look for signs of infection.

    Chlamydia can cause serious problems but may not cause symptoms. That’s why it’s a good idea to get tested once a year if you are at higher risk for getting chlamydia. Talk to your doctor about what testing is right for you.

    Symptoms In The Throat

    Chlamydia symptoms can sometimes appear in the throat, although this is uncommon. When it does occur, the time frame is likely to be similar to that of chlamydia infections of the genitals.

    In people who experience symptoms, the main one is a persistent sore throat. A doctor may refer to a chlamydia infection in the throat as pharyngeal chlamydia.

    Testing for chlamydia in the throat is not a common practice in STI testing, as it does not have approval from the Food and Drug Administration . However, if a person suspects that they have pharyngeal chlamydia, a doctor may take a swab from the throat.

    A person can undergo testing for chlamydia at their:

    • doctors office
    • local health department
    • local planned parenthood center

    A person can also order a chlamydia test online, take it at home, and then send it off for testing.

    If people are at high risk of chlamydia, they may need screening for all types of chlamydia every 36 months.

    At risk groups include people who have:

    • multiple or unknown sexual partners
    • sex in combination with illegal drug use
    • sexual partners who use illegal drugs or have multiple partners

    7 days .

    People should avoid having sex until their treatment is complete. If a person is experiencing symptoms even after the treatment, they should see a doctor.

    People who menstruate should notice that their periods return to normal or that bleeding between periods stops by their next period.

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