I Have Chlamydia And Gonorrhea

Can You Have Chlamydia And Gonorrhea At The Same Time

A single STD on its own is a gruesome enough prospect. But what about contracting multiple STDs? Can you have STDs like chlamydia and gonorrhea at the same time? The answer is yes. In fact, its fairly commonplace for individuals to carry more than one STD at once. Thats why its important for all sexually active individuals to get tested for every STD not just one or two. Below, well explain more about the nature of STDs and help you determine how best to deal with one :

Feasibility Acceptability Cost And Equity

Screening is currently a part of primary care practice and therefore judged to be feasible and likely acceptable to primary care practitioners and patients. Notably, 1 included RCT showed that patients accepted screening 80% of the time that it was offered .

The task force anticipates that public health and other policymakers will find the recommendation to screen acceptable, given the number of people affected, increasing incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea infection, and availability of effective treatment.

In the judgment of the task force, the recommendation would likely improve health equity by normalizing screening as routine for sexually active individuals and thereby reducing important barriers to screening, such as fear of disapproval or discrimination and feelings of stigmatization. Additionally, because females carry most of the burden of the clinical consequences of infection, screening of males may improve health equity for females.

Just Diagnosed Next Steps After Testing Positive For Gonorrhea Or Chlamydia

If youve just found out that you have gonorrhea or chlamydia, you may be trying to figure out what to do next. Here are the three most important steps that you can take:

WHY?Many people with gonorrhea and chlamydia dont have symptoms. Why does this matter? Because an untreated infection can lead to serious and permanent health problems, even if you never have symptoms. Gonorrhea and chlamydia can be cured with the right medicine from your doctor. Just make sure you take all of your medicine exactly as your doctor tells you to.

WHERE?Your regular doctor can prescribe antibiotics to cure the STD. But if you dont have insurance or want to see someone else for treatment, there are other low-cost or free options. You can get tested and treated at your local health departments STD clinic, a family planning clinic, a student health center, or an urgent care clinic. You can also find a clinic using GetTested and ask if they offer treatment for gonorrhea and chlamydia.

• In women, untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease which can lead to health problems like ectopic pregnancy or infertility .
• In men, chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause a painful condition in the tubes attached to the testicles. In rare cases, this may prevent him from being able to have children.
• Untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea may also increase your chances of getting or giving HIV the virus that causes AIDS.

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How Gonorrhea And Chlamydia Are Tested

Both gonorrhea and chlamydia can be diagnosed with similar methods. A healthcare provider might do a physical examination to look for symptoms, and they may do a urine test to check for the bacteria that cause chlamydia or gonorrhea.

But screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea doesnât have to take place at a clinic. With the Everlywell at-home Chlamydia & Gonorrhea Test, you can easily check for these STIs from the comfort and privacy of your home.

The kit comes with easy-to-follow instructions and everything you need to collect your sample at home, and your physician-reviewed results can be conveniently and securely viewed online on your device. Plus, if you receive a positive result after you get tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea with the Everlywell at-home test, youâll have the opportunity to connect with our independent physician networkâand may be prescribed medication to treat the infection.

Recommendation On Screening For Chlamydia And Gonorrhea In Primary Care For Individuals Not Known To Be At High Risk

www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.201967-f see related article at www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.210604

• Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are the most commonly reported sexually transmitted bacterial infections in Canada and can cause complications including pelvic inflammatory disease, chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy and infertility.

• Opportunistic offering of screening for chlamydia in primary care may reduce pelvic inflammatory disease in females, although the evidence is uncertain.

• Most patients likely prioritize the potential benefits of screening over harms a small proportion of those eligible for screening may experience psychosocial harms of embarrassment, anxiety or stigma.

• The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recommends screening of sexually active individuals younger than 30 years for chlamydia and gonorrhea annually at primary care visits, as feasible .

Key messages for the public

Screening sexually active individuals for chlamydia and gonorrhea could reduce clinical complications and transmission, but should be done only if benefits from screening exceed harms, and resource use is justifiable.

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What Is The Treatment For Chlamydia

There are antibiotic treatments that are effective in treating chlamydia. A healthcare provider will decide which antibiotic is prescribed, taking into consideration the particular needs of the patient.

Whatever treatment is prescribed, there are some important points about any treatment:

• The patient must take all medications as directed.
• All partners should be examined and treated.
• The infected person should not have sex until they and any partner or partners have been treated and cured.
• People who show symptoms after treatment should be tested again.
• Women should be retested three to four months after treatment because of a high rate of reinfection.
• Because the symptoms of chlamydia are similar to the symptom of gonorrhea, and because a person can be infected with both, doctors will sometimes go ahead and treat people with chlamydia for both infections . Remember, partners should be examined for infection and treated as well to avoid reinfection.

How Common Is Chlamydia

In 2017, greater than 1.7 million instances of chlamydia were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Nevertheless, lots of cases go unreported, so the genuine variety of chlamydia infections annually might be closer to 3 million.

Men and women can both obtain the infection, however a lot more situations in women are reported.

Infection rates are greatest amongst more youthful females, with the highest possible rates of infection taking place in females between ages 15 and 24.

The CDC recommends that all sexually active females ages 25 years and also more youthful obtain screened for chlamydia yearly, along with older women with risk variables like several or new partners.

Statistically, a person is more likely to get an STI if theyve made love with greater than one person. Other danger variables include having had an STI in the past, or presently have an infection since this can lower resistance.

Prices for chlamydia as well as other STIs have actually been climbing up in the last few years.

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How Do The Symptoms Compare

Both men and women can get chlamydia or gonorrhea and never develop any symptoms.

With chlamydia, symptoms may not appear for a few weeks after youve contracted the infection. And with gonorrhea, women may never experience any symptoms at all or may only show mild symptoms, while men are more likely to have symptoms that are more severe.

A couple of the most telltale symptoms of these STIs overlap between the two , such as:

• burning when you pee
• abnormal, discolored discharge from the penis or vagina
• abnormal discharge from the rectum
• pain in the rectum
• bleeding from the rectum

With both gonorrhea and chlamydia, men may also experience abnormal swelling in their testicles and scrotum, and pain when they ejaculate.

You may also develop symptoms that affect your throat if you engage in oral sex with someone who has one of these conditions. This can cause mouth and throat symptoms, including sore throat and a cough.

What Can Cause False Results

The incubation period of chlamydia is normally between one to five days so, getting tested too early after a high-risk sexual encounter, may show a false negative result. Also, a positive result may reflect an old infection, in that case, we can call it a false positive since the results do not indicate an active infection.

The incubation period of gonorrhea is normally between two to six days however it can range anywhere from one to fourteen days. So, getting tested before that time will not give accurate results. It is always recommended to get tested after the incubation period has passed to prevent a false negative test, otherwise you would be advised to take the test again.

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Why Take The Chlamydia And Gonorrhea Test

The Chlamydia and Gonorrhea tests are the best methods to screen and effectively diagnose an active infection. They also help monitor the effectiveness of a treatment path. If positively diagnosed, you are expected to repeat the test three months after completing the treatment. Most doctors opt for a combined test in order to have the right diagnosis and elimination tool.

For both sexually transmitted diseases, people who are at high risk of contracting any of these infections need to get tested routinely. Risk factors include being sexually active and under the age of 25 years, having numerous sex partners, not regularly using condoms, having a previous chlamydia or gonorrhea infection, being a drug addict, having a sex partner who have STD, as well as being HIV positive. Men who have sex with men are also at high risk of becoming infected. Having an early diagnosis can help prevent any complications arising from these infections.

Complications caused by untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea include:

Other complications witnessed by infected men are lymphadenitis, balanitis, urethral stricture, or fistula. To prevent these complications from arising and affecting the quality of your life, you have to be tested routinely and address the problem, effectively.

Treatments For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia

Since both STDs are caused by a bacterial infection, the treatment is a regimen of oral antibiotics.

Some strains of gonorrhea in the US have become antibiotic resistant, sometimes called super gonorrhea. Therefore, a medical physician will decide on the best course of antibiotics.

The most commonly recommended antibiotics for both chlamydia and gonorrhea are:

• Azithromycin .

The infection should clear after one to two weeks.

You should never stop taking antibiotics until the recommended course is finished, even if you think the infection cleared or you are feeling better.

If you do not finish the antibiotics, the infection can come back and be resistant to the antibiotics you were taking.

Additionally, since antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria are already more common, if your symptoms continue after a few days of taking antibiotics, consult your doctor. They may switch you to a different strain of antibiotics.

Some people report home remedies for chlamydia and gonorrhea easing their symptoms, but the only effective treatment for both STDs are antibiotics.

Gonorrhea and chlamydia are curable by taking the appropriate medication as directed however, repeat infections are common.

You and your sexual partner should always be tested after three months of completing treatment, especially if you are unsure whether your partner received treatment.

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What Is Chlamydia And Gonorrhea

Both gonorrhea and chlamydia are common sexually transmitted infections occurring in men and women. So how do you get gonorrhea and chlamydia? They are transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone whoâs infected.

Both infections are caused by bacteriaâChlamydia trachomatis in cases of chlamydia and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in cases of gonorrhea.

Although gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection, chlamydia has a higher prevalenceâwith over 1.7 million cases of chlamydia reported in the United States in 2017.

Risk factors for getting gonorrhea and chlamydia are often identical and include:

• Having multiple sex partners. You’re more likely to be exposed to someone with a sexually transmitted infection if you have multiple sex partners.
• Unprotected sex. Condom usage during sex substantially reduces the risk of getting a sexually transmitted infection, so your risk is higher if you have unprotected sex.
• Having other STIs: If you already have a sexually transmitted infection, you can be at a greater risk of getting another STI. For example, if you contract chlamydia, you could be more likely to contract gonorrhea.

What Are The Risks Of Chlamydia And Gonorrhea

If you have chlamydia or gonorrhea and are not treated, you can get pelvic inflammatory disease . This is a very bad infection that can cause scarring in your fallopian tubes. If you get pregnant after having PID, you can have a life-threatening type of pregnancy called ectopic pregnancy, which is a pregnancy that is outside the uterus and can’t live. You can also have infertility, which is not being able to get pregnant when you want to become pregnant. There is a chance you may never be able to give birth to a child.

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Can Chlamydia Turn Into Gonorrhea

No, chlamydia on its own cannot turn into gonorrhea as they are caused by two different bacteria.

It does happen that people contract and carry both chlamydia and gonorrhea bacteria, so you can have them at the same time. Also, having one increases your likelihood of contracting another thus, it is always important to be treated for both.

Frequently Asked Questionsexpand All

• What is a sexually transmitted infection ?

  A sexually transmitted infection is an infection spread by sexual contact. There are many STIs. This FAQ focuses on chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. These STIs can cause long-term health problems and problems during pregnancy. Having an STI also increases the risk of getting human immunodeficiency virus if you are exposed to it.

• What is chlamydia?

  Chlamydia is the most commonly reported STI in the United States. Chlamydia is caused by a type of bacteria, which can be passed from person to person during vaginal sex, oral sex, or anal sex. Infections can occur in the mouth, reproductive organs, urethra, and rectum. In women, the most common place for infection is the cervix .

• What are the risk factors for chlamydia?

  The following factors increase the risk of getting chlamydia:

• Having a new sex partner

• Having more than one sex partner

• Having a sex partner who has more than one sex partner

• Having sex with someone who has an STI

• Having an STI now or in the past

• Not using condoms consistently when not in a mutually monogamous relationship

• Exchanging sex for money or drugs

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Can You Develop Stds

Some people think that having an STD like chlamydia can lead to the internal development of another STD like gonorrhea. Thats simply not the case, though. STDs dont evolve or transform into different kinds of infection over time. However, having one STD can increase your odds of contracting more STDs in the future.

What Measures Can I Take To Prevent These Conditions

The only way that you can completely prevent yourself from catching chlamydia, gonorrhea, or another STI is by abstaining from sexual activity.

But there are also plenty of ways you can reduce your risk of contracting or transmitting these infections:

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Can Chlamydia Be Mistaken For Gonorrhea

One of the most distinct similarities between both chlamydia and gonorrhea are the symptoms. Both infections can easily go unnoticed as its common to experience little to no signs or symptoms. Although, when symptoms do appear, they tend to be quite similar, these include:

• Painful urination
• Bleeding between periods
• Burning sensation in genitals

The most reliable way to find out more about your sexual health and whether or not you have contracted chlamydia or gonorrhea is through a reliable lab test.

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How Does Chlamydia Affect A Pregnant Woman And Her Baby

In pregnant women, untreated chlamydia has been associated with pre-term delivery,34 as well as ophthalmia neonatorum and pneumonia in the newborn. In published prospective studies, chlamydial conjunctivitis has been identified in 18-44% and chlamydial pneumonia in 3-16% of infants born to women with untreated chlamydial cervical infection at the time of delivery.9-12 Neonatal prophylaxis against gonococcal conjunctivitis routinely performed at birth does not effectively prevent chlamydial conjunctivitis.37-39

Screening and treatment of chlamydia in pregnant women is the best method for preventing neonatal chlamydial disease. All pregnant women should be screened for chlamydia at their first prenatal visit. Pregnant women under 25 and those at increased risk for chlamydia should be screened again in their third trimester. Pregnant women with chlamydial infection should be retested 3 weeks and 3 months after completion of recommended therapy.40

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