How Can You Detect Chlamydia

How Common Is Chlamydia

CDC estimates that there were four million chlamydial infections in 2018.3 Chlamydia is also the most frequently reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the United States.4 It is difficult to account for many cases of chlamydia. Most people with the infection have no symptoms and do not seek testing. Chlamydia is most common among young people. Two-thirds of new chlamydial infections occur among youth aged 15-24 years.3 Estimates show that 1 in 20 sexually active young women aged 14-24 years has chlamydia.5

Disparities persist among racial and ethnic minority groups. In 2020, chlamydia rates for African Americans/Blacks were six times that of Whites.4 Chlamydia is also common among MSM. Among MSM screened for rectal chlamydial infection, positivity ranges from 3.0% to 10.5%.6,7 Among MSM screened for pharyngeal chlamydial infection, positivity has ranges from 0.5% to 2.3%.7.8

How Do I Know If I Have Chlamydia

Most people who have chlamydia have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they may not appear until several weeks after you have sex with an infected partner. Even when chlamydia causes no symptoms, it can damage your reproductive system.

Women with symptoms may notice

• An abnormal vaginal discharge
• A burning sensation when urinating.

Symptoms in men can include

• A burning sensation when urinating
• Pain and swelling in one or both testicles .

You should be examined by your doctor if you notice any of these symptoms or if your partner has an STD or symptoms of an STD. STD symptoms can include an unusual sore, a smelly discharge, burning when urinating, or bleeding between periods.

When Should I Call My Doctor About A Chlamydia Test

A note from Cleveland Clinic

A chlamydia test is essential to limiting the spread of this sexually transmitted infection. Its especially important to get screened for chlamydia regularly if youre at a higher risk of this STI. Untreated, the infection can cause health problems and you can spread it to your partner. While youre waiting for results and during treatment, avoid having sex. Wait until your provider says its safe to have sex again. Be sure to use a condom and practice safe sex to avoid getting an STI.

Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 01/28/2022.

References

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Stds With Few Or No Symptoms

Its important to keep in mind, though, that symptoms arent always a good measure of determining whether you or your partner has an STD. Many sexually transmitted diseases can remain asymptomatic for years. In other words, there are no noticeable signs of infection.

Furthermore, it is possible for someone to have no STD symptoms at all and still be contagiousthis includes STDs from gonorrhea and chlamydia to herpes and HIV. Thats why theres no substitute for regular screening.

A lack of symptoms is no guarantee that you dont have an STD. You may be infected and able to transmit the disease to any partners.

Chlamydia Blood Test Accuracy

Can you test Chlamydia through blood or urine? Learn everything about testing Chlamydia, its accuracy and result.

As per Office of Womens health near around 19 million women suffers from Sexually transmitted diseases. In the world, this sums up to more than 2 billion. It is seen half of person who is sexually active get these diseases. This disease can cause severe problems such as Cancer, Infertility, Blindness and organ damage.

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How Soon Can You Get Tested For Stds

If you have potentially been exposed to an STD, you may think that getting tested immediately is imperative. But in fact, getting tested too early may lead to inaccurate results. It takes time for your body to recognize and respond to the STD once you are exposed to it. If you get tested before your body has responded to the STD, it will be too early for the test to detect the STD in your system. How long does it take to get an STD? When should you get tested? Heres what you need to know:

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How Long Does It Take For Chlamydia To Show Up On A Test

How long it takes for the results to show up depends on the test performed and on your specific health as an individual. Urine tests take about 2 to 5 days to show a positive or negative result, positive meaning it was found and negative meaning it wasnt. If the blood is analyzed on site, blood tests can come back with results in a few minutes. However, if sent off to a lab, they can take a week or more. To show a positive or negative, swab results take about 2 to 3 days.

Your doctor will likely prescribe one of the following to help treat the infection:

• Azithromycin This antibiotic is usually taken in one big dose and is also referred to as Z-Pal.
• Doxycycline This antibiotic is usually taken twice a day for a week.
• Erythromycin This antibiotic is normally taken frice a day for a week.
• Levofloxacin This antibiotic is taken once a day for a week.
• Ofloxacin This antibiotic is given in doses that are taken twice daily for a week.

If you or someone you know needs to be tested for chlamydia, come to Express Healthcare today! Our kind and compassionate health care professionals are experienced in testing for chlamydia and other STIs and provide confidential, discreet results, so you can feel comfortable knowing that your test results are private. Contact our office today to talk with a member of our specialist team. Go online or simply give us a to book an appointment with us today!

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Can I Take The Test At Home

Tests are available to detect chlamydia at home. Most at-home chlamydia tests are self-collection kits, which allow you to obtain a swab or sample of urine at home and return it to a laboratory by mail. If an at-home chlamydia test returns positive results, a doctor may suggest confirmation testing with a laboratory-based method.

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What Health Problems Can Result From Chlamydia

The initial damage that chlamydia causes is often unnoticed. However, infections can lead to serious health problems with both short- and long-term effects.

If a woman does not receive treatment, chlamydia can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes, causing PID. Symptomatic PID occurs in about 10-15% of women who do not receive treatment.30,31 However, chlamydia can also cause subclinical inflammation of the upper genital tract . Both acute and subclinical PID can cause long-term damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, tubal factor infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy.32,33

Some patients with PID develop perihepatitis, or Fitz-Hugh-Curtis Syndrome. This syndrome includes inflammation of the liver capsule and surrounding peritoneum, which can cause right upper quadrant pain.

In pregnant people, untreated chlamydia can lead to pre-term delivery,34 ophthalmia neonatorum , and pneumonia in the newborn.

Reactive arthritis can occur in men and women, following infection with or without symptoms. This is sometimes part of a triad of symptoms formerly referred to as Reiters Syndrome.35

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How Long Does It Take For Gonorrhea To Show Up

Gonorrhea Incubation Period: the incubation period ranges from 1 to 14 days. Men who show symptoms, start noticing them two to five days post exposure. Women, on the other hand, develop them in the first 10 days following infection.

Gonorrhea Window Period: it is between 2 to 6 days.

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What Does The Chlamydia Test Involve

The recommended tests for chlamydia are simple, painless and generally very reliable.

They involve sending a sample of cells to a laboratory for analysis. You donât necessarily have to be examined by a doctor or nurse first and can often collect the sample yourself.

There are two main ways the sample can be collected:

• urinating into a container this should ideally be done at least 1 hour after you last urinated

The results will normally be available in 7 to 10 days. If thereâs a high chance you have chlamydia for example, you have symptoms of the infection or your partner has been diagnosed with it and youâve had unprotected sex with them you might start treatment before you get your results.

Read more about treating chlamydia.

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If You Suspect That You May Have Contracted Chlamydia Come To Express Healthcare For Testing Our Professional Staff Are Here To Offer You Comfort And Discreet Care Call Our Clinic Or Book An Appointment Online Today We Serve Patients From Berwyn Heights Md College Park Md Lanham Hyattsville Md Lakeland Md Hollywood Md Old Town Md Acredale Md And Riverdale Gardens Md

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection transmitted through sexual contact and can affect both men and women. In women, if left untreated, it can cause permanent damage to the reproductive organs, making it difficult or even impossible to conceive a child. Chlamydia can also cause serious complications with pregnancy, such as a pregnancy that occurs outside the womb.

How Soon Should I Retest After Treatment

Follow-up testing can be very helpful and give you peace of mind. In most cases, it is important to retest after treatment to be sure you are no longer infected. For example, if you test positive for gonorrhea or chlamydia, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics to treat these STDs. Retesting after completing the course of antibiotics is an effective way to ensure the treatment was successful. If you are still testing positive, you will need to discuss additional treatment options with your healthcare provider.

An exception is HSV-2 which is a lifetime infection. Retesting after testing positive for HSV-2 is not needed. Individuals testing positive for HIV and HPV often require additional testing during or following treatment. This type of testing is best done by the clinical provider treating you.

There is disagreement among major medical and public health organizations about retesting time schedules. In many cases, there is limited data or even no data to make an evidence-based recommendation. Given the current state of knowledge, our recommendations for retesting emphasize staying healthy and disease free. Retesting is especially important when sex partners do not receive treatment, individuals have sex with new infected partners, or sex occurs without using condoms.

• Genital Herpes: 2-14 days

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How To Choose The Right Test For You

With dozens of at-home testing kits available, it can be hard to choose the right test. After all, what does a good at-home STD testing kit look like? What should it entail? What do you need?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Your needs will vary, depending on your situation and circumstances. Whats more, they may change over time.

Use this chart to help determine which test is right for you.

You should also make sure a test is approved by the Food and Drug Administration . To determine if a product is FDA approved, check the FDAs website.

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Home Remedies For Chlamydia Symptoms

You may still experience painful or uncomfortable symptoms while youre taking chlamydia antibiotics.

Here are some home remedies for reducing your pain and other symptoms while youre waiting for the antibiotics to work:

• pain medications, such as ibuprofen to reduce pain
• cold pack to help limit swelling and inflammation
• goldenseal to reduce inflammation and potentially make symptoms less severe
• echinacea to bolster your immune system against the infection and reduce your symptoms
• turmeric containing an ingredient called curcumin to reduce inflammation and make symptoms less severe

No studies support the effectiveness of these supplements specifically for chlamydia, so take them with caution.

And theres no substitute for antibiotics when treating chlamydia. Only try these remedies if youre already taking antibiotics or if you plan to go to the doctor.

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Chlamydia Symptoms In Females

Chlamydia symptoms in females are rare. Roughly 7 in 10 women dont experience any symptoms. The infection may be asymptomatic, meaning that people dont know they have it.

If signs and symptoms occur, they usually happen one to three weeks after the exposure, but could start much later. The symptoms are often mild and passing, and easy to overlook.

Some of the potential signs and symptoms of chlamydia include:

• lower abdominal pain

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How Long Does It Take For Hepatitis To Show Up

Hepatitis is an infectious disease that can have serious impact on the liver. There are three main types of this viral infection: A, B and C. While some do not show symptoms, others may exacerbate signs like vomiting, poor appetite, yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes.

Hepatitis Incubation Period: The incubation period is different for each type of hepatitis, depending on the structure of the virus and its route of transmission. For example, for hepatitis A, it is a non-enveloped virus that does not have any glycoproteins on its exterior membrane. It is more virulent than other types of hepatitis. Hepatitis B and C, on the other hand, are enveloped and their replication process is slower than Hepatitis A. Regarding the incubation periods: for hepatitis A, it is between 15 to 50 days, for hepatitis B, it is between 45 and 160 days and for hepatitis C, it is between 14 and 180 days.

Hepatitis Window Period: for hepatitis A, it is between 2 and 7 weeks, 6 weeks for hepatitis B and 8-9 weeks for hepatitis C.

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How To Get Tested For Chlamydia

If youâre wondering how to test for chlamydia safely, here are several ways you can do so. Depending on your medical history and health concerns, your healthcare provider may suggest more than one test to see if you have a sexually transmitted infection. A panel might require a blood sample, genital swab, or urine sample.

While chlamydia isnât a bloodborne disease, blood tests can determine whether you have chlamydia antibodies, which can reveal current or past chlamydia infections.

A penile or vaginal swab is another method your healthcare provider may use to test for STIs. For this type of test, your doctor uses a cotton swab for specimen collection.

Can you test for chlamydia through urine? The answer to this question is âyes,â and itâs quite a common testing method. In fact, you can use a urine sample to test for chlamydia at home. With the Everlywell Chlamydia & Gonorrhea Test, you simply urinate in a collection cup and place your urine specimen in the mail. Your sample is then tested in a CLIA-certified laboratory. The lab that tests your sample uses molecular testing techniquesâknown as nucleic acid amplification testsâwhich identify the DNA of gonorrhea and chlamydia in your sample.

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What If My Results Are Positive

The Everlywell Chlamydia & Gonorrhea test includes an easy-to-understand lab report. But if youâre not sure how to read your chlamydia test results, your healthcare provider can help.

A positive STI test result can be unsettling, but you arenât alone: with the Everlywell Chlamydia & Gonorrhea Test, you have the opportunity to speak with a physician in our network to discuss your results further if you test positiveâand you may be prescribed medication.

If your chlamydia test is positive, STI testing is recommended for your sex partner . If they are infected and donât receive treatment, they can pass the chlamydial infection back to you.

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Why Get Tested For Stis At Home

• Convenient. Thereâs no trip to the doctorâs office required. You can complete your sample at a time that works best for you.
• Confidential. You can take your test from the privacy of your own home. The shipping package does not say Planned Parenthood.
• Safe. Taking your test at home keeps you and our staff safe by reducing the number of people in our health centers.
• Accurate. The test results are just as reliable as getting tested in-person.
• Affordable. It costs the same as getting tested in person. STI testing is covered under most health insurance plans. Uninsured? We have a sliding fee scale and other special programs that could make your testing cost less.

Credit: samritk Shutterstock

Thankfully, most STIs can be very easily treated but it all hinges on you taking the test first. You should never feel embarrassed about taking care of yourself, but if the idea of taking a trip to the clinic makes you flush, you can test yourself at home.

If you have unprotected sex, youâll probably want to get tested ASAP to find out about any infections early. But while this is obviously a good attitude to have, youâre actually better off waiting a couple of days before first getting tested.

It can take a while for STIs to show up on test results as they all have different window periods .

How long you should wait to get tested for STIs and STDs?

Hereâs a list of the main STIs and how long it can take each one to show up on a test:

What Are The Chances Of Getting Chlamydia

Any sexually active person can be infected with chlamydia. It is a very common STD, especially among young people. It is estimated that 1 in 20 sexually active young women aged 14-24 years has chlamydia.5. Sexually active young people are at high risk of acquiring chlamydia for a combination of behavioral, biological, and cultural reasons.

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