Causes And Risk Factors
Chlamydia is an STI caused by a specific strain of bacteria known as Chlamydia trachomatis.
Chlamydia is more common in women than in men. In fact, its estimated that the overall rate of infection is for women than men in the United States.
Some of the other risk factors for infection include:
- not using barrier methods like condoms consistently with new sexual partners
- having a sexual partner who is having sex with other people
- having a history of chlamydia or other STIs
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Female Issues Of Without Treatment Chlamydia
Some females develop PID, an infection that can harm the uterus, cervix, and also ovaries. PID is an uncomfortable disease that often needs health center therapy.
Females can also end up being infertile if chlamydia is left neglected because the fallopian tubes may come to be scarred.
Expectant ladies with the infection can pass the microorganisms to their children during birth, which can trigger eye infections and also pneumonia in babies. How Easy Is It To Get Chlamydia
Does Chlamydia Treatment Have Side Effects
An antibiotic called Doxycycline is the most common medicine used to treat chlamydia. Like most medicines, it can cause mild side effects. The most common side effects of Doxycycline are nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, loss of appetite, mild diarrhea, skin rash or itching, change in skin color, vaginal itching, or discharge. These side effects should go away after you finish taking the medicine. Talk to your nurse or doctor about any medicines youre already taking and any medical issues you already have before taking Doxycycline.
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How Is Chlamydia Spread How Common Is Chlamydia
You can obtain chlamydia by having vaginal, rectal, or oral sex with someone that has chlamydia.
If your sex companion is male you can still get chlamydia even if he does not climax.
If youve had chlamydia and also were treated in the past, you can still obtain contaminated again. This can occur if you have vulnerable sex with someone who has chlamydia.
If you are expecting, you can offer chlamydia to your infant during childbirth.
What Is It How Do I Get It How Common Is It
Several studies tell us MG is common, perhaps as common as chlamydia.
UK and US datashow 1-2% of the adult population have it , and it is as common in men as in women.
In research yet to be published, when we tested women who walked through the door of our sexual health service in Melbourne, 6% had MG, which was as common as chlamydia in women in the same study. Of women with MG, roughly the same number had symptoms compared to no symptoms. When we tested gay men without symptoms who attended our service, 10% had MG.
However, were not entirely sure how many people are infected with MG throughout Australia. Thats because Australia has yet to set up a formal surveillance network . MG is also not a notifiable disease yet. That means doctors or laboratories dont have to tell health authorities when they have a case.
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When Can I Have Sex Again
If you were diagnosed with chlamydia, wait to have sex again until you have finished your treatment.
For some antibiotics, such as doxycycline, this means may need to wait 1 week to have sex, or until you have completed your prescribed course of treatment.
If you were prescribed a single dose of medication, like azithromycin, wait 7 days after taking the medication before having sex.
What Should I Do Next
Once you have symptoms of chlamydia, its important to get a correct diagnosis. There are several STDs that can cause similar symptoms, and chlamydia is no exception. Because of this, youll need to make sure you get the correct tests so the cause of your symptoms can be identified.
If you have chlamydia within a monogamous relationship, its also important for your partner to get tested. If they have an asymptomatic infection, they could reinfect you after you complete your treatment. If your partner receives a positive result for chlamydia, they will also need to be treated. If youve had multiple recent partners, youll need to inform all of them so they can get tested and treated if necessary.
The best way to catch asymptomatic STD infections is by getting regular STD tests. Fortunately, getting screened for STDs is easier than ever thanks to at-home STD tests, which are trustworthy, affordable, and comfortable. You can learn more about these tests at STDWatch.com.
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Chlamydia Can Be Prevented
The most effective way to avoid getting a sexually transmitted infection is to not have sex. However, if you wish to have sexual contact, you can reduce your risk of infection with these actions:
- Minimizing the number of partners with whom you have intimate contact
- Asking your partners to get screened for STDs before engaging in sexual activity
- Always using latex condoms when having intercourse of any kind
Additional reporting by Ingrid Strauch.
Can Chlamydia Be Left Untreated
Chlamydia does not go away on its own and should not be left untreated. Why? Because not getting treated leaves you open to a myriad of risk factors.
Men who dont get treated risk several complications, including swollen testicles , reactive arthritis, and infertility.
Chlamydia may also cause problems with the reproductive system. For example, women who go without treatment run the risk of infection spreading to the uterus and fallopian tubes, resulting in pelvic inflammatory disease and even infertility.
Moreover, the infection in pregnant women can pass to the child during delivery via the birth canal. It can cause pneumonia, eye infections, preterm labour and low birth weight.
Chlamydia screening and treatment for chlamydia during pregnancy can prevent these complications. This is not part of the routine NHS antenatal screening but your midwife or GP can arrange a simple swab test.
Common antibiotic treatments like doxycycline cannot be taken during pregnancy, but azithromycin is safe and effective. If you think you have chlamydia and you are pregnant, you should see your doctor for treatment.
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Chlamydia And Oral Sex: What You Should Know
Chlamydia and Oral Sex: What You Should Know
Chlamydia is one of the most common STIs and it spreads very easily. Although it is widely believed that oral sex is much safer than vaginal sex, it is actually how chlamydia is spread the most. You have to protect yourself and your partners from getting infected with chlamydia by using appropriate protection during any form of oral sex.
How To Treat Chlamydia
Chlamydia is an easy infection to treat, and can be completely cured if the necessary medication is taken correctly.
Being a bacterial infection, chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics. Chlamydia treatment for uncomplicated infection usually consists of taking an antibiotic tablet for seven days.
You should take your antibiotics exactly as directed by your doctor. More than 95% of people who take their antibiotics correctly will be completely cured. It’s also important not to have any sex during your treatment and get all partners tested and treated if necessary.
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What Is The Treatment For Chlamydia
Antibiotics can easily cure chlamydia. Treatment options are the same, whether a person also has HIV or not.
Patients treated with single-dose antibiotics should not have sex for seven days. Patients treated with a seven-day course of antibiotics should not have sex until they complete treatment, and their symptoms are gone. This helps prevent spreading the infection to sex partners. It is important to take all medicine prescribed to cure chlamydia. Medicine should not be shared with anyone. Although treatment will cure the infection, it will not repair any long-term damage done by the disease. If a persons symptoms continue for more than a few days after receiving treatment, a healthcare provider should reevaluate them.
Repeat infection with chlamydia is common.49 Women whose sex partners do not receive appropriate treatment are at high risk for re-infection. Having multiple chlamydial infections increases a womans risk of serious reproductive health problems .50,51A healthcare provider should retest those with chlamydia about three months after treatment of an initial infection. Retesting is necessary even if their partners receive successful treatment.40
Infants with chlamydia may develop conjunctivitis and/or pneumonia.10 Healthcare providers can treat infection in infants with antibiotics.
What Happens If Chlamydia Isnt Treated
Only some people who have chlamydia will have complications. If chlamydia is treated early, its unlikely to cause any long-term problems. But, without proper treatment, the infection can spread to other parts of the body. The more times you have chlamydia the more likely you are to get complications.
- If you have a vulva, chlamydia can spread to other reproductive organs causing pelvic inflammatory disease . This can lead to long-term pelvic pain, blocked fallopian tubes, infertility and ectopic pregnancy .
- In people with a vulva, chlamydia can also cause pain and inflammation around the liver, though this is rare. This usually gets better with the correct antibiotic treatment.
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What Happens If I Have Chlamydia And Im Pregnant
Pregnant women who are infected with chlamydia have an increased risk of their waters breaking prematurely, causing the baby to be born early. If a woman has chlamydia when giving birth, the baby might become infected during delivery.
Would I know if I had chlamydia during pregnancy?
Most women and men who have chlamydia feel completely well and have no symptoms. In pregnancy, there is no evidence that chlamydia causes miscarriages but it can cause bleeding. It can also cause a discharge, abdominal pains or bleeding after sex. However, it is not the only possible reason for these symptoms.
Can you still have a baby after chlamydia?
Most women who have had chlamydia wont have any difficulties conceiving that are related to the infection. There may be a greater chance of chlamydia affecting fertility if you have repeated infections or if it goes untreated and causes a condition called Pelvic Inflammatory Disease .
Can you get a false positive for chlamydia while pregnant?
False-positive chlamydia NAAT result is a third possible explanation for a repeat positive chlamydia test. However, a recent study of 36 pregnant women with chlamydia documented a median of 8 days for clearance after azithromycin treatment and 94% had a negative NAAT result after 21 days.
What Does Treatment For Chlamydia Entail
Fortunately, treatment for chlamydia isnt complicated or invasive. It can easily be cured with the use of antibiotics. Even patients who are HIV positive get the same treatment as everyone else, showing that this form of treatment is effective.
It is recommended that a person who has the infection should not partake in sexual activity for one week after a dose of antibiotics. This is to prevent spreading the infection to their sexual partners.
Any medication the doctor has subscribed to the infected should not be shared with other persons.
Although the antibiotic treatment will cure a person who has chlamydia, it will not be able to fix any damage the disease may have caused. That is why it is important to get regular tests for chlamydia .
If you have visited a doctor and completed your seven-day course of antibiotics but still experience any symptoms, you should return to the healthcare professionals for reevaluation.
It is not uncommon for repeat infection to happen with chlamydia. Women whose partners have not received or finished appropriate treatment are at very high risk of getting reinfected.
Women who have multiple infections can suffer severe damage to their reproductive health. They are at risk of experiencing an ectopic pregnancy or pelvic inflammatory disease.
Babies infected with chlamydia can also be treated through the use of antibiotics.
Women must be retested after three or four months due to the high risk of reinfection.
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Chlamydia Can Return Even After Antibiotic Treatment Because It Survives In The Stomach
Chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted infection and often a symptom-less one, can usually be treated with antibiotics effectively. But new research shows that oftentimes chlamydia can return with a vengeance, even after treatment.
Research out of the Arkansas Childrens Research Institute has found that if chlamydia survives in the persons stomach, even after it has been cleared away from the genitals by antibiotics, it can re-infect the person.
It is possible that women, cured of genital infection by antibiotics, remain infected in the gastrointestinal tract and can become re-infected by auto-inoculation from that site, Roger Rank, the lead author of the study, wrote.
In a small percentage of recurrent infections, Rank said, infection cannot be attributed to reinfection from a partner or treatment failure so it would appear that in these cases, the organism has remained persistent in the individual. Based on the studies in animals and the experimental mouse model studies and evidence for gastrointestinal infection in humans, we propose that chlamydiae shed in the GI tract may infect the genital tract via auto-inoculation.
How Often Should I Get Checked For Chlamydia
Sexual health check-ups are recommended for anyone who is sexually active. Frequency of testing also depends on your STI risk:
- An annual sexual health check-up is highly recommended if you are sexually active especially if you are under 25.
- Get checked more often during the year if you frequently change sexual partners.
- Remember, you are at greater risk if you have sex without a condom with 1 or multiple sexual partners.
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How Is Chlamydia Treated
Chlamydia can be cleared up with antibiotics in about a week or two. But dont stop taking your medication just because your symptoms improve. Ask your provider about what follow-up is needed to be sure your infection is gone after youve finished taking your medicine.
Part of your treatment should also include avoiding sexual activities that could cause you to get re-infected and ensuring that any sexual partners who may be infected also get treatment. You should:
- Abstain from sex until your infection has cleared up. Starting treatment doesnt mean that youre in the clear. Take all your medication as your provider directs, and avoid all sexual contact in the meantime.
- Contact all sexual partners. Tell any sexual partners from the last 3 months that youre infected so that they can get tested, too.
- Get tested for other STIs . Its common to have multiple STIs, and its important to receive treatment thats tailored to each infection.
Antibiotics can get rid of your infection, but they cant reverse any harm the bacteria may have caused to your body before treatment. This is why its so important to get screened regularly for chlamydia, to see your provider at the first sign of symptoms, and get treatment immediately if youre infected.
How To Know If You Have Chlamydia
Chlamydia is incredibly difficult to diagnose due to its symptomless nature for 70% of women and 50% of men. The only certain way to know that you have chlamydia is to get tested. If you do have symptoms then you will still need to be tested to effectively diagnose that the symptoms are caused by chlamydia. If youre sexually active, you should get tested regularly whether you have symptoms or not.
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Medication To Treat Chlamydia What Treatments Are There For Stis
Pills was no longer effective, cure ciprofloxacin was now the recommended treatment and it required only one dose. In Kings eyes, getting gonorrhoea was even less of a hassle.
But this was actually a symptom of chlamydia regimens starting to fail.
The bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae chlamydia on the way to developing resistance to nearly every drug ever used to treat it. On receiving the Nobel Medication in Physiology or Medicine for discovering penicillin, Alexander Fleming finished his lecture with a warning: There is the danger, he told the audience, that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and, by exposing treat microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug, make pills resistant.
In other words, we have known about bacterias ability to evolve resistance to drugs since the dawn of the antibiotic era. Chlamydia resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development.
Below are some ways to prevent chlamydia
- Use condoms every time you have sex
- Discuss testing for sexually transmitted infections with your doctor or nurse
- Ask if you are due for your annual chlamydia screening
- See your doctor or nurse if you have any symptoms of chlamydia or another infection
- Do not have sex if you or your sexual partner has abnormal discharge, burning with urination, or a genital rash or sore
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What Should I Expect After A Chlamydia Test
After collecting a sample, your provider sends the sample to a lab. If youre using an at-home kit, you will mail the sample to a lab. The lab will test the sample to check for bacterial DNA. Your provider will contact you when the results are ready and discuss the next steps.
While youre waiting for results, its very important to avoid having sex. If you do have the infection and you have sex, you can spread it to others.
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Chlamydia Can Lead To Infertility
A lot of us don’t 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.
Many women, and some men, are infected with chlamydia but don’t 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 not treated, chlamydia can lead to damage to the reproductive system. In women, chlamydial infection can spread to the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease , according to the CDC. PID can damage the fallopian tubes and uterus and cause chronic pain, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. Women who have chlamydia also are at much greater risk for becoming infected with HIV. In men, complications from chlamydia are rare.
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.