How Does Chlamydia Spread
A person can pass on chlamydia through unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal sex or through genital contact.
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
- sharing an office or house with a colleague who has the infection
- conjunctivitis or pneumonia in the newborn
Everything You Need To Know About Oral Chlamydia
Asking a new sexual partner to get tested is never a comfortable topic for discussion. Unfortunately, it is a reality of sex with a new partner-even if you arent having penetrative sex.
While more than 1.5 million people are infected with chlamydia each year, the real number is likely much higher. That is because this bacterial infection, often called the silent disease is likely largely under diagnosed. A mixture of a lack of symptoms and failure to test makes this sexually transmitted infection the most common.
While chlamydia usually infects the mucous membranes of the genitals or anus, it can also infect other areas of the body, including the throat. Oral chlamydia, while less common, can also be spread through unprotected oral sex.
Chlamydia is an infection caused by a bacteria called chlamydia trachomatis. This bacteria lives in the mucous membranes of the body. While that usually means the cervix in women or the urethra or anus in men and women, it can also mean the throat or the eyes. Chlamydia in the throat is called a pharyngeal chlamydia infection.
This bacteria can be present in sperm or vaginal fluid. Getting this fluid in your eye or throat is one way that it is spread. It can also be spread through oral sex.
An Overview Of Chlamydia
Synopsis
Chlamydia is caused by the bacteriumChlamydia trachomatis and is the most commonly reported bacterial STD infection among sexually active people. The CDC estimates that there are just over 2.8 million chlamydia cases reported each year. Chlamydia is easily spread because it is often asymptomatic . Although Chlamydia is cured with simple antibiotics, left untreated, it can cause a number of complications for both men and women. Although using condoms can greatly reduce transmission of the disease, the only way to prevent Chlamydia 100% of the time is through abstinence .
Untreated chlamydia can lead to pelvic pelvic inflammatory disease in females and can rarely lead to infertility in men.
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Chlamydia Can Lead To Infertility
A lot of us dont realize that some sexually transmitted diseases can cause no symptoms, meaning you could have an STD and not know it. And some STDs can silently lead to infertility, ectopic pregnancy, or chronic pelvic pain.
Chlamydia is one of those diseases. CDC estimates that more than 2.8 million people are infected each year.
Chlamydia is most common in sexually active young adults. More than half of all infections involve people ages 18 to 24. You can get chlamydia during oral, vaginal, or anal sexual contact with an infected partner. The disease can cause penile discharge in men and infertility in women. It can also cause serious health problems in newborn babies of infected mothers.
Many women, and some men, are infected with chlamydia but dont know it. Even without symptoms, the disease can cause complications, particularly infertility. The longer the infection is untreated, the more damage that can be done.
If symptoms do show up, they usually occur within weeks of exposure. Men and women may face painful urination, an abnormal discharge from the urethra, or both. Women also may have abdominal pain, bleeding, and an abnormal discharge from the vagina. Symptoms usually appear within one to three weeks after being infected and may be very mild.
In pregnant women, chlamydia can cause premature delivery, the CDC says. A child born to an infected woman can develop an infection in their eyes and respiratory tracts.
How Is Chlamydia Spread
You can get chlamydia by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has chlamydia.
If your sex partner is male you can still get chlamydia even if he does not ejaculate .
If youve had chlamydia and were treated in the past, you can still get infected again. This can happen if you have unprotected sex with someone who has chlamydia.
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Can Syphilis Be Cured
Is there a cure for syphilis? Yes, and especially when the infection is caught in the first two stages. In the later, latent stages, the infection can still be cured, but any internal damage it has done is permanent. Until a doctor pronounces you cured and the treatment complete, avoid having sex, as you might still be able to pass on the infection.
Even once cured, however, its still possible to contract syphilis again exposure to the disease once does not prompt immunity to it going forward.
Chlamydial Infection Among Adolescents And Adults
Chlamydial infection is the most frequently reported bacterial infectious disease in the United States, and prevalence is highest among persons aged 24 years . Multiple sequelae can result from C. trachomatis infection among women, the most serious of which include PID, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. Certain women who receive a diagnosis of uncomplicated cervical infection already have subclinical upper genital tract infection.
Asymptomatic infection is common among both men and women. To detect chlamydial infection, health care providers frequently rely on screening tests. Annual screening of all sexually active women aged < 25 years is recommended, as is screening of older women at increased risk for infection . In a community-based cohort of female college students, incident chlamydial infection was also associated with BV and high-risk HPV infection . Although chlamydia incidence might be higher among certain women aged 25 years in certain communities, overall, the largest proportion of infection is among women aged < 25 years .
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Top Things To Know About Chlamydia:
- Chlamydia is often asymptomatic, meaning that many people donât know they have it
- Chlamydia symptoms can include pus-like yellow discharge frequent or painful urination spotting between periods or after sex and/or rectal pain, bleeding, or discharge
- Untreated, it can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and/or infertility in women and people with female reproductive tracts
- Antibiotics are used to treat chlamydia infections
Signs And Symptoms Of Chlamydia In Cats
There are some signs and symptoms of chlamydia in cats. Lets see what the symptoms and signs of it:
If your cat suffers from influenza, you can check whether your cats recover from flu by reading these signs of cats recovering from flu.
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The Process Of Chlamydia Testing Heres What You Need To Know
Keeping yourself healthy and preventing the spread of diseases to partners is extremely important. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there about effective testing methods.
We asked one of our readers to go through the entire STD screening process with the only testing method approved by clinicians. Lets call this reader Billy.
Billy had multiple sexual partners over the course of the past year. He experienced some pain while urinating and needed to find out if he had contracted an infection. He signed up for chlamydia testing through a medical facility. He then followed the process, which is very simple.
Heres the process Billy used:
Billy used the list of pre-checked testing facilities below to choose the one that was the best fit for him. Then, when he went to his appointment, he had to make sure it had been an hour since his last urination.
Then, Billy went to a recommended screening facility and urinated into a cup. The cup was handed over to a professional clinician, and Billy received his results back in 1 day. Luckily for Billy, he was all clear, which relieved him of heavy anxiety and the intense pressure he felt.
If you are experiencing the anxiety of not knowing whether or not you have an infection, the best way to reduce that stress is to receive proper testing.
You can find a list of recommended testing clinics near you below, but first lets examine how this lab screening works, so you know exactly what to do when you get there.
How Long Does An Hpv Infection Last
For most people go away on their own in the course of about two years and dont require any special treatment, says Braaten. This includes both high- and low-risk types. But the status of a womans immune system can determine whether shell clear the virus or not, she says.
Other lifestyle factors may impact HPV infection. Theres a concern that smoking is related to persistence of infection, too, Ramondetta says.
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Can You Prevent Chlamydia
You can lower your risk of getting chlamydia and other STIs by:
- using a condom every time you have vaginal, oral or anal sex
- not having sex with someone with chlamydia, even with a condom, until theyve finished treatment and 1 week has passed since their last dose of antibiotics
- regularly getting tested for STIs, especially if you are under 30 and sexually active
Remember that most people with chlamydia dont show any symptoms and dont know they have it, so feeling ‘well’ does not mean that you or your partner are not infected. If in doubt, get tested.
If you have chlamydia, you can help reduce the spread by letting your recent sexual partners know so they can get tested and treated.
How Chlamydia Is Treated
Chlamydia can usually be treated easily with antibiotics.
You may be given a course of doxycycline to take for a week or azithromycin to take once a day for 3 days.
If you have doxycycline, you should not have sex until you and your current sexual partner have finished treatment.
If you have azithromycin, you should wait 7 days after treatment before having sex .
It’s important that your current sexual partner and any other recent sexual partners you have had are also tested and treated to help stop the spread of the infection.
Under-25s who have chlamydia should be offered another test 3 to 6 months after being treated.
This is because young adults who test positive for chlamydia are at increased risk of catching it again.
Sexual health or genitourinary medicine clinics can help you contact your sexual partners.
Either you or the clinic can speak to them, or they can be sent a note advising them to get tested.
The note will not have your name on it, so your confidentiality will be protected.
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How Do You Get Diagnosed
Screening and diagnosis of chlamydia is relatively simple. Tests include:
For women: A swab of the cervix, which can be done during a routine Pap test.
For men: A swab of the urethra. In some cases, a doctor may also swab the anus.
Another way to get tested for chlamydia is through a urine test.
If youve been diagnosed with a chlamydia infection, its important that your current sexual partner and any other recent sexual partners be informed, tested and treated to help stop the spread of the infection.
Public health experts advise that people who are sexually active with new and/or multiple partners should be tested for chlamydia every three months.
What Happens If I Get Chlamydia When I’m Pregnant
- Chlamydia during pregnancy has been associated in very rare cases with problems such as premature birth, and infection of the uterus lining after the birth.
- It can be passed to the baby during the birth and before the baby is born. This can cause inflammation and discharge in the babys eye and/or pneumonia.
- You may be offered a chlamydia test as part of your antenatal care.
- Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics when youre pregnant and when youre breastfeeding. The antibiotics wont harm the baby, but do tell the doctor or nurse that youre pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Youll be advised to have another test after you complete your treatment.
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Chlamydia Symptoms & Treatment
FAST FACTS
- Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection that is normally passed on through sex without a condom or sharing sex toys with someone who has the infection.
- Using male or female condoms and dental dams during sex will help to protect you from getting chlamydia.
- Chlamydia is often symptomless however if left untreated it can lead to long-term health problems.
- Chlamydia is easily treated with antibiotics.
- Chlamydia can be passed on from mother to child during pregnancy, so its important for pregnant women to get tested.
Chlamydia In The Rectum Throat Or Eyes
Chlamydia can also infect:
- the rectum if you have unprotected anal sex this can cause discomfort and discharge from your rectum
- the throat if you have unprotected oral sex this is uncommon and usually causes no symptoms
- the eyes if they come into contact with infected semen or vaginal fluid this can cause eye redness, pain and discharge
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Chlamydia Can Sometimes Go Away On Its Own
Some diseases and infections can go away on their own, so its not surprising that people wonder: does chlamydia go away on its own? The truth is, it sometimes does. In about 20% of people who have no symptoms, chlamydia may resolve spontaneously without treatment. It means that under certain circumstances host immune responses can control chlamydia naturally.
Untreated chlamydia can go on without any symptoms for a long period of time. Thats why its so important to get tested and catch it early. When chlamydia isnt treated, it can cause a number of serious complications. In women, the infection can spread to the uterus and uterine tubes, while in men, it can spread to the prostate gland. Chlamydia can also cause reactive arthritis, which affects your joints and eyes.
When chlamydia isnt treated, it can cause a number of serious complications.
Some people claim that chlamydia can be treated with home remedies like garlic and turmeric, but these methods are unproven and should be avoided. The only proven cure for chlamydia is treatment with antibiotics, which usually clear up the infection in a week or two.
How Common Is Chlamydia
Based on the current data in 2018 from the Ministry of Health Singapore, Chlamydia is the most common STD in Singapore. The patient age group with the highest cases of Chlamydia are those between 20 29 years old, though anyone who is sexually active is at risk of contracting Chlamydia. Over the last 10 years, the average annual rate of Chlamydia infection in Singapore ranges between 40 60 cases per 100,000 people.
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Facts You Should Know About Chlamydia
Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the world and in America there are around three million cases reported each year.
A relatively “modern disease, it was discovered in humans in 1907 but it wasnt recognised as a sexually transmitted disease until 1963.
Chlamydia is the Latin form of the Greek word khlamys which means “cloak”. It describes the way chlamydia cells wrap around the nucleus of the infected cell.
It’s a serious disease that can lead to permanent damage to the human reproductive system, blindness and pneumonia.
What makes chlamydia especially dangerous is the fact that it is a silent disease which means that most people who are infected dont show any symptoms.
9 facts about chlamydia
1.Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the 10 most common STIs. The others are: gonorrhea, hepatitis, syphilis, crabs , human papillomavirus , bacterial vaginosis , herpes, trichomoniasis and HIV/Aids.
2.Chlamydia is spread by unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex with a person who has the disease. A male partner doesnt have to ejaculate for the bacteria to be transmitted. Chlamydia is unlikely to be passed on by non-sexual physical contact.
3.7090 percent of women and 90 percent of men with chlamydia dont have any symptoms. If there are symptoms, they will only appear several weeks after having sex with an infected person. Possible symptoms are:
In women
- A burning sensation when urinating
- Painful intercourse
In women:
In men:
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Essential Facts About Chlamydia
Chlamydia often causes no symptoms in the short term, but it can have serious health consequences if it goes untreated.
If youre sexually active, you should know about chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted bacterial infection. These 10 facts will bring you up to speed on whos at risk, why regular screening is so important, and how to avoid getting chlamydia and other sexually transmitted infections .
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Exactly How Is Chlamydia Spread Can Chlamydia Be Cured On Its Own
You can obtain chlamydia by having genital, anal, or oral sex with someone that has chlamydia.
If your sex partner is male you can still get chlamydia even if he does not climax.
If you have actually had chlamydia as well as were treated in the past, you can still get contaminated once again. This can occur if you have vulnerable sex with somebody that has chlamydia.
If you are pregnant, you can give chlamydia to your child during childbirth.