Symptoms Can Differ For Men And Women
By and large, most cases of chlamydia are asymptomatic they are picked up by screening, which is why its so important to have good screening programs in place, notes Dr. Stoner. Men or women who have chlamydia symptoms may experience painful urination.
Women may also have these symptoms:
- Smelly discharge from the cervix
- Pain during sex
And men may have these symptoms:
- Discharge from the penis
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How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Without Knowing Years Or Months
How long can you have chlamydia without knowing is a common question after an unprotected sexual contact.
What is chlamydia infection?
Chlamydia infection, caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, is a common sexually transmitted infection that affects both men and women. In the united stated, more than 1.4 million new cases of chlamydia are detected yearly.
Chlamydia can affect the eyes , the joints, the vagina, anus and the penis. It may sometimes cause infertility if left untreated in men and women.
In women, chlamydia infection can ascend up the genital tracts resulting to pelvic inflammatory disease with symptoms like fever, abdomen pain and difficulty conceiving.
Chlamydia trachomatis infection is transmitted through
- Unprotected anal intercourse
If youve had intercourse with these symptoms, then its likely you have chlamydia. You should inform your doctor ASAP or get a chlamydia test kit to detect chlamydia.
What Is The Treatment For Chlamydia
Chlamydia can be easily cured with antibiotics. HIV-positive persons with chlamydia should receive the same treatment as those who are HIV-negative.
Persons with chlamydia should abstain from sexual activity for 7 days after single dose antibiotics or until completion of a 7-day course of antibiotics, to prevent spreading the infection to partners. It is important to take all of the medication prescribed to cure chlamydia. Medication for chlamydia should not be shared with anyone. Although medication will cure the infection, it will not repair any permanent damage done by the disease. If a persons symptoms continue for more than a few days after receiving treatment, he or she should return to a health care provider to be reevaluated.
Repeat infection with chlamydia is common.49 Women whose sex partners have not been appropriately treated are at high risk for re-infection. Having multiple chlamydial infections increases a womans risk of serious reproductive health complications, including pelvic inflammatory disease and ectopic pregnancy.50,51 Women and men with chlamydia should be retested about three months after treatment of an initial infection, regardless of whether they believe that their sex partners were successfully treated.40
Infants infected with chlamydia may develop ophthalmia neonatorum and/or pneumonia.10 Chlamydial infection in infants can be treated with antibiotics.
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Can Chlamydia Be Cured
Yes, chlamydia can be cured with the right treatment. It is important that you take all of the medication your doctor prescribes to cure your infection. When taken properly it will stop the infection and could decrease your chances of having complications later on. You should not share medication for chlamydia with anyone.
Repeat infection with chlamydia is common. You should be tested again about three months after you are treated, even if your sex partner was treated.
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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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.
Can Chlamydia Be Undetected In Tests
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. Also know, can you test negative for chlamydia and still have it?
You could still have chlamydia even if a partner has tested negative. The only way to make sure you don’t have chlamydia is to get tested yourself. You can have a test for chlamydia even if there are no symptoms.
Similarly, how long can you have chlamydia for without knowing? Most people who have chlamydia don’t notice any symptoms.If you do get symptoms, these usually appear between 1 and 3 weeks after having unprotected sex with an infected person. For some people they don’t develop until many months later. Sometimes the symptoms can disappear after a few days.
In this manner, can chlamydia be dormant and undetected?
Chlamydia can lie dormant in the body for many years causing a low grade infection without symptoms. It could potentially flare up to cause a symptomatic infection, especially if there is an alteration in the persons immune system, such as a severe cold or flu, cancer or some other severe illness.
How long does it take for chlamydia to show up positive on a test?
Our doctors recommend testing for chlamydia 1-5 days post-exposure and gonorrhea 2-6 days after your sexual encounter. Re-test two weeks after treatment to confirm that you are clear of chlamydia and gonorrhea, then again 3 months later to make sure the infection did not re-appear.
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How Is Chlamydia Treated
If detected early, chlamydia can be treated with a single dose of antibiotic.
If complications from chlamydia infection are present such as pelvic inflammatory disease in women a longer course of antibiotics will be required.
Do not have sex for 7 days after you and your current partner have completed treatment. This includes all kinds of sex with or without a condom.
You can get reinfected with chlamydia if you have sex within the 7 days.
After you have completed treatment, have another test for chlamydia in 3 months time to make sure you have not been re-infected.
Can Chlamydia Be Dormant And Undetected
Many people think that STDs are conspicuous diseases. In other words, they expect STDs to produce a lot of obvious symptoms and for thosesymptoms to appear quickly. Yet, the reality is that its impossible to tell if you have an STD immediately after contraction. In fact, lots of people who have STDs never experience any symptoms at all. This leads us to our question of the day can chlamydia be dormant and undetected? There are two parts to the answer. First, yes, chlamydia can lie unnoticed for long periods of time. However, even if chlamydia remains asymptomatic, tests can still detect its presence.
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Male Difficulties Of Neglected Chlamydia
Guy can also experience complications when chlamydia is left untreated. The epididymis the tube that holds the testicles in place may come to be swollen, triggering pain. This is referred to as epididymitis.
The infection can likewise spread to the prostate gland, creating a fever, unpleasant sexual intercourse, and also discomfort in the reduced back. Another possible difficulty is male chlamydial urethritis.
These are just a few of one of the most typical issues of untreated chlamydia, which is why its important to obtain clinical attention right away. The majority of people that obtain treatment promptly have no long-lasting clinical problems. How Soon Can Chlamydia Be Detected
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Hi there, Im Melissa and welcome to Genier. Im not ashamed to admit that Ive dealt with an STD before and recovered. It was not a pleasant experience but Im glad I got myself tested. If theres one message that you can take away from my site is get tested today! Stay safe.
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How To Test From Home
Once you decide which test kit it right for you, the process is the same. By that, we mean that it is convenient and easy to use. You never have to step into a doctors office for a sexually transmitted infection test ever again!
myLAB Box makes the testing process as simple as possible. Youll find the following components included in every kit:
- The urine, vaginal swab and/or blood sample collection kit
- Easy to follow instructions
- Fast and easy access to your results online
- A free telemedicine consultation with a physician in your state
As you can see, the process is simple. If youre not sure what type of sample is required or which test is right for you, you might want to consider one of myLAB Boxs test combos:
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Am I At Risk For Chlamydia
Anyone who has sex can get chlamydia through unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex. However, sexually active young people are at a higher risk of getting chlamydia. This is due to behaviors and biological factors common among young people. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are also at risk since chlamydia can spread through oral and anal sex.
Have an honest and open talk with your health care provider. Ask whether you should be tested for chlamydia or other STDs. If you are a sexually active woman younger than 25 years, you should get a test for chlamydia every year. If you are an older woman with risk factors such as new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has an STD, you should get a test for chlamydia every year. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men as well as pregnant women should also get tested for chlamydia.
Coping With Inconsistent Results
If you get two different results from two different tests, what should you do? The answer depends largely on the type of STI involved.
Imagine that the condition is easy enough to treat, and the treatment doesnt have any serious side effects. Then you may decide to go with the flow and take the treatment.
Two such examples are chlamydia and gonorrhea, which are sometimes treated presumptively. This means treatment is given if theres a chance the person may be infected. For example, sexual partners of a person who tests positive may be treated without being tested themselves.
However, if a treatment is costly or poses certain harms, then additional tests may be ordered to confirm the results. Such is the case with HIV tests, which require a confirmatory test to accurately diagnose the virus. When a confirmatory test is used, HIV tests are rarely ever wrong.
In addition, most STIs have a window period during which the body hasnt produced enough antibodies to return an accurate test result. If the tests are performed too soon after infection, it may return a false-negative result. In such cases, a person may be asked to come back for retesting if the exposure was recent and the risk of infection is high.
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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 However, a large number of cases are not reported because most people with chlamydia are asymptomatic 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 It is estimated that 1 in 20 sexually active young women aged 14-24 years has chlamydia.5
Disparities persist among racial and ethnic minority groups. In 2019, reported chlamydia rates for African Americans/Blacks were nearly six times that of Whites.4 Chlamydia is also common among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men . Among MSM screened for rectal chlamydial infection, positivity has ranged from 3.0% to 10.5%.6,7 Among MSM screened for pharyngeal chlamydial infection, positivity has ranged from 0.5% to 2.3%.7.8
How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Damage
Untreated chlamydia can lead to a number of serious health complications.
In women pelvic inflammatory disease may occur. PID is a serious health condition which can cause infertility , chronic pelvic pain, tubal pregnancies, and the continued spread of the disease.
Untreated chlamydia in pregnant women may result in premature rupture of membranes, preterm delivery and possible tubal pregnancy in a small percent of women. In addition, chlamydia can cause conjunctival and pneumonic infection in the newborn
In men, untreated chlamydia can cause urethral infection and complications such as swollen and tender testicles.
Persons with a chlamydia infection have an increased chance of getting other infections such as gonorrhea or HIV.
It is so important to regularly get screened for sexually transmitted infections due to the fact that oftentimes, the symptoms of chlamydia are not easy to identify. Sadly untreated chlamydia may lead to irreversible health complications such as infertility, ectopic pregnancy, or chronic pelvic pain.
What may lead to increased worry is chlamydia is most common in sexually active young adults in the United States. More than half of all infections involve people ages 18 to 24.
It is possible to be infected with chlamydia without knowing. The longer chlamydia goes untreated, the more health complications that may occur.
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Just How Is Chlamydia Spread How Long Can Chlamydia Lay Dormant
You can obtain chlamydia by having genital, rectal, or foreplay with a person that has chlamydia.
If your sex partner is male you can still obtain chlamydia even if he does not climax.
If you have actually had chlamydia and also were treated in the past, you can still get contaminated once again. This can occur if you have unsafe sex with a person that has chlamydia.
If you are pregnant, you can give chlamydia to your infant during childbirth.
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How Long Does It Take To Show Up In The Throat
Symptoms of chlamydia in your throat are typically caused by having oral sex with someone whos contracted the infection.
Its much less common to notice throat symptoms, but they may still appear after a week or so, up to a few months or longer.
STI tests that look for chlamydia arent always done on the throat since its an area that does not carry the infection often. Ask your doctor for a throat swab or other chlamydia test if you think youve been exposed through oral sex.
Here are the most common symptoms of chlamydia in both people with penises and people with vulvas.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Chlamydia
Yes! It is curable for both men and women and it is one of the common diseases to be passed on sexually. The hardest thing is noticing the infection itself as it remains symptomless so it can be difficult to realise you have it in the first place.
Its unclear whether chlamydia can be spread through just touching another persons genitals. In most cases, it is usually caught through unprotected vaginal, oral or anal sex. It is also possible to catch the infection through unprotected or uncleaned shared toys.
Most people dont show signs of the infection and it rare for people to recognise symptoms as the infection. If you do get symptoms of the sexually transmitted disease then they usually appear one to three weeks after having unprotected sex with an infected person. It is possible for symptoms to develop months after the initial infection and symptoms can come and go.
Yes! Chlamydial conjunctivitis is redness and swelling of the clear membrane that lines the inside of your eyelids and covers the white of your eyes. In some cases the infection when in the eye is known as pink eye. Although relatively harmless in adults, eye infection in newborn babies can lead to blindness.
Who Should Be Tested For Chlamydia
Any sexually active person can be infected with chlamydia. Anyone with genital symptoms such as discharge, burning during urination, unusual sores, or rash should refrain from having sex until they are able to see a health care provider about their symptoms.
Also, anyone with an oral, anal, or vaginal sex partner who has been recently diagnosed with an STD should see a health care provider for evaluation.
Because chlamydia is usually asymptomatic, screening is necessary to identify most infections. Screening programs have been demonstrated to reduce rates of adverse sequelae in women.31,41 CDC recommends yearly chlamydia screening of all sexually active women younger than 25, as well as older women with risk factors such as new or multiple partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted infection.40 Rectal chlamydia testing can be considered for females based on sexual behaviors and exposure. 40 Pregnant women under 25 or older pregnant women at increased risk for chlamydia should be screened during their first prenatal visit and again during their third trimester.40 Women diagnosed with chlamydial infection should be retested approximately 3 months after treatment.40 Any woman who is sexually active should discuss her risk factors with a health care provider who can then determine if more frequent screening is necessary.
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How Can You Treat Chlamydia
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.