How Long Does It Take To Test Positive For Chlamydia
Almost 3 million new cases of chlamydia are reportedevery single year, which means 1 in 20 sexually active young people havechlamydia. With such a prevalent STI like this one, its very important to getregularly tested.
Anyone who has unprotected sex is exposed to chlamydia and can get this infection during genital, anal, or oral sex. This bacteria is treatable, but if left undetected for a long time, it can cause infertility or other serious health problems.
The real problem is that chlamydia often shows no signs and no symptoms, which means people are at risk of transmitting this infection without having a clue they are infected. Those who do get tested, but decide to do it too early will not get adequate results. Thats why timing is crucial for chlamydia testing.
Here we will focus on how long it takes forchlamydia to show up on tests, why is the incubation period important, and howit affects the test results in both men and women.
Home Testing Kits Are The Solution
Home testing kits provide a discrete way for every individual to get tested for chlamydia without having to talk to their doctor face-to-face. Even though this method is not 100% accurate, it does provide a clear picture of your sexual health and whether or not you need medical assistance. Home testing kits for chlamydia are comfortable, convenient, often reliable, and a great way to monitor for STIs.
What Does The Test Measure
Chlamydia testing looks for evidence of infection with the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis. There are several types of tests that can be used to detect chlamydia, including molecular testing, also called Nucleic Acid Amplification Test , and cell culture.
NAAT is the preferred method for detecting a chlamydia infection. This type of test detects the genetic material of Chlamydia trachomatis. It can be performed using a urine sample or swab of fluid taken from a site of potential infection such as the urethra, vagina, rectum, or eye.
Traditionally, NAAT takes a day or more to provide results, but there have also been rapid chlamydia tests developed using NAAT methods. Rapid chlamydia tests can often provide a result within 30 to 90 minutes. Rapid chlamydia tests are typically performed on urine samples or swabs of fluid taken from the vagina or cervix.
Although much less commonly used, cell cultures can help diagnose a chlamydia infection. Chlamydia cell cultures may be used in children with a suspected chlamydia infection, when evaluating potential infections in the anus or rectum, and when initial treatment for chlamydia is unsuccessful. In these cases of treatment failure, doctors may use a cell culture to help understand which treatments may be most effective for an individuals infection.
Other types of chlamydia tests are available but are rarely used given the accuracy and availability of NAAT.
Read Also: How Do Doctors Check For Chlamydia
How Do You Prevent Chlamydia
Using a new male or female condom or dental dam every time you have sex is the best way to protect against chlamydia.
Chlamydia can be passed on by sharing sex toys. Always cover sex toys with a new condom and wash them after use to reduce your risk of getting chlamydia and other STIs.
Its important to regularly test for chlamydia, even if you dont have any symptoms, especially if youve had multiple sexual partners.
The contraceptive pill and other types of contraception wont prevent you getting chlamydia, and neither will PrEP.
What If My Results Are Positive
The Everlywell Chlamydia & Gonorrhea test includes an easy-to-understand lab report. But if you’re 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 don’t receive treatment, they can pass the chlamydial infection back to you.
Don’t Miss: Places To Get Tested For Chlamydia
Did You Know It Gets In Your Mouth Oh And Your Butt Too
Thats right guys , were talking about those pesky sexually transmitted infections, gonorrhea and chlamydia. And you read that rightit can end up in your mouth and your butt.
So listen up to learn about the only way to test for these two serious infections, because your previous provider may not have done it correctly.
What Happens During A Chlamydia Test
If you are a woman, your health care provider will use a small brush or swab to take a sample of cells from your vagina for testing. You may also be offered the option of testing yourself at home using a test kit. Ask your provider for recommendations on which kit to use. If you do the test at home, be sure to follow all the directions carefully.
If you’re a man, your health care provider may use a swab to take a sample from your urethra, but it is more likely that a urine test for chlamydia will be recommended. Urine tests can also be used for women. During a urine test, you will be instructed to provide a clean catch sample.
The clean catch method generally includes the following steps:
Don’t Miss: How Easy Is It To Get Rid Of Chlamydia
How Long Should I Wait For Chlamydia To Show On Tests
There are various chlamydia tests you can undergo to get diagnosed with this infection. Depending on which test you take, the time will vary. There are three ways to get diagnosed for chlamydia, and those are a swab, urine, or blood test.
For a swab test, the doctor will take a cotton stickto sample the infected fluid or tissue. This sample will then be taken to thelab, where experienced technicians will analyze the growth of the bacteria andsee how much it has developed.
A urine test is analyzed the same way. The urine isstored in a sealed cup and sent off for testing. If the technicians find anybacteria present in the urine, it will mean youve been infected. A blood test,on the other hand, is a more painful method, but the most reliable one. Theblood sample will be taken to the lab to analyze all the antibodies and seewhether this infection has infected the bloodstream.
So, the results you will get will depend on the typeof test you selected:
- Forswab results chlamydia shows up in 2 to 3 days
- Forblood tests chlamydia can show up instantly if the blood is inspected on site
- Forurine tests it can take up to 2 or 5 days for chlamydia to show up
How Soon Can I Test For All Stds At Once
We know it can be hard to wait to get tested. As soon as the thought crosses your mind that you may have an STD, you want to learn your status ASAP. But you know now thats probably not the best idea. You dont want to test too early, and you also dont want to have to visit our labs multiple times because of all the different STD incubation periods.
To make it easy and only have to test once, we suggest waiting to test according to the STD with the longest incubation period. For example, If you wanted to test for everySTD mentioned on this blog post using our comprehensive 10 test STD panel, you would need to wait at least eight weeks to get accurate results, because that is the minimum amount of time hepatitis C needs before it shows up on tests.
Recommended Reading: Can Chlamydia Cause Kidney Infection
How To Get Tested For Chlamydia
If you’re 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 isn’t 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.
Almost Everyone Needs Tested
If youre sexually active and not in a long-term relationship, you should be tested for STDs on a regular basis. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers this general testing guide:
- Everyone 13 to 64: At least once for HIV.
- Sexually active women under 25: Yearly for chlamydia and gonorrhea.
- All pregnant women: Tested for syphilis, HIV and hepatitis B
- All women in at-risk pregnancies: Tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea.
- Those having unprotected sex or sharing needles: Yearly for HIV.
Also, sexually active bisexual or gay men should get frequent tests for HIV, up to every 3-6 months, and yearly tests for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea.
You May Like: How To Get Rid Of Chlamydia And Gonorrhea
How Long Will It Take For Chlamydia To Show Up In Women
Symptoms of chlamydia in individuals with vulvaswill need around 1 to 3 weeks to show up, but sometimes it can take upto a couple of months. The reason for that is the bacteria. Bacteria is aliving organism, which means it will have an incubation period that willpredetermine its effect before the infection becomes a real problem.
The incubation period will vary depending ondifferent factors like:
- Howlong does it take for the chlamydia to reproduce
- Areyou exposed to a lot of bacteria
- Whereis the bacteria, does it infect the throat, anus, or genitals
- Isyour immune system well-equipped to protect itself against the bacteria
What Is An Std Incubation Period
An incubation period is the span of time from when you first come in contact with an STD to when antibodies form to fight the STD1). Tests look for the presence of these antibodies during testing2), and if you do not wait until the incubation period has ended, you may not allow your body sufficient time to develop enough antibodies for it to show up in testing, causing a false-negative result.
Even after you have waited for the incubation period to end, you may not see signs or symptoms of the STD. Many STDs do not display symptoms at all or are so subtle that you could think you have a cold or a rash. Your symptoms come and go, but this doesnt mean the STD has gone away. This is why its so important to get tested there is simply no other way to be 100% sure of an STD diagnosis.
Read Also: Naat Testing For Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Is Every Home Testing Kit The Right Pick
There is no guarantee that one particular test kit is most suited for you it depends on every individual. Whether you have a history of STIs or you want to purchase a specific kit based on your needs, you should consult with a health professional first. If you have any doubts about picking the ideal kit for you, a professional can advise you on what test kit would be a better fit for your sexual health.
How Can You Get Treatment
-
The YorSexualHealth team can arrange treatment for you .
- Postal treatments can often be arranged – one of our nurses can discuss this with you.
-
If you have symptoms, are pregnant or want a full check up, you will need to go to a sexual health clinic – we can help to arrange this.
-
These treatments are free of charge and confidential.
-
If you would prefer to go to your GP for treatment, you may need to pay a prescription charge.
Don’t Miss: How Much Is Chlamydia Medicine
Can A Chlamydia Test Result Be False Positive
Can a Chlamydia Test Result be False Positive? This is the most common question. I tried to answer it with helpful examples and reasons.
The precision of tests differs, contingent upon the kind of test that is utilized. Suggested tests are 90-95% sensitive. This implies they will recognize Chlamydia major symptoms in the vast majority who have the disease.
Keep in mind that no test is 100% precise. There is a little risk that a test may indicate negative not with standing when you have Chlamydia. This is widely known as a false negative test result outcome. Accuracy of Chlamydia Swab test is also not 100%. It is as well additionally feasible for a test result to be positive notwithstanding when you dont have Chlamydia. This is known as a false positive test outcome. Both these false tests are exceptionally rare. However, can in some cases clarify why you initially got the other result to your sexual partner.
False positive test result for Chlamydia is 100% possible and below are some common reasons for that. You should try to re-test if you are unsure about your first blood test result.
But This Is Really All Just Confetti
Even if we establish that you contracted chlamydia through his sexual infidelity, we have a bigger issue with lack of proper safety precautions. While it is true that BC pills protect against unwanted pregnancy, it does nothing for unwanted STI transmission as you have discovered here. Furthermore, condoms do not protect against other skin-to-skin STIs like herpes or syphilis.
It is very important to keep in mind that there are multitudes of risk to be aware of. And while your chlamydia might do away with a single dose of azithromycin, the emotional harm that comes with contracting an STI has more profound implications. For one, it is apparent that your soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend also had very different risk thresholds as it pertains to COVID transmission. After all, we are all currently in the middle of a serious global pandemic. Even outside of the pandemic circumstances, most folks have put dating on hold until the overall risk levels becomes more manageable. And each risk you take is a successive undertaking that you need to be conscientious of for not just yourself but for all people you come in contact with.
Please be mindful of the risks you are taking for not just this relationship but for all other relationships you might have in the future.
Good luck!
Read Also: What Test Is Done For Chlamydia
What To Do After First False Positive Chlamydia Test Result
We should try as much as possible never to accept a false positive test result without asking for a re-test especially when we are very sure of our status. Because accepting a false positive Chlamydia test result could lead to unethical and unnecessary surgery, treatment or inefficient/ineffective doctors appointment, when unknowingly to us and the lab technician we never did had such infection after all.
Originally posted 2016-09-15 13:27:04.
Data Processing And Identification Of Cohort For Analysis
SAS Enterprise Guide was used to clean and format data. Duplicate records were removed where multiple specimens were tested for one individual on the same day, or when retesting occurred within a few days of the index event due to inadequate specimen collection. Unique laboratory numbers were used to identify multiple tests for a given individual, and a single line of data created for each test-retest event. A test undertaken at least 6 weeks after the index event was considered a retest and examined as to whether the retest was positive for chlamydia or gonorrhoea . Retesting soon after treatment is more likely to have been performed as test of cure and carries with it a higher likelihood of false positives. Any repeat positives within 42 days of diagnosis were not therefore considered new infections in this analysis .
Each person could contribute more than one index event test sequence to the dataset. If the retest following an index event was negative, that marked the end of the test-retest sequence however any subsequent positive test for that person became a new index event which was followed-up for retesting outcomes using the protocol above.
Read Also: How Long Does Chlamydia Take To Clear Up
Home Testing For Chlamydia
Recently, test kiting kits for chlamydia have become more and more popular. There are different kits you can buy online for confidential and accurate results. The reason for that is relatively simple, for many people, especially the younger population, its extremely embarrassing to ask to get treated or tested for STIs.
As a result, many would rather avoid going to the doctor altogether. But, your sexual health is just as important as your overall health, and getting tested is the key to managing your health. Thats exactly why STIs test kiting kits were manufactured.
If you dont like face-to-face contact with your healthcare provider, there are various test kiting kits you can use.