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.
Gonorrhea Symptoms During Pregnancy
Not all pregnant women who are infected will show gonorrhea symptoms. However, in addition to the symptoms mentioned above, pregnant women with untreated gonorrhea may also experience miscarriage, preterm birth, and ectopic pregnancy . Itâs also possible for the infection to be transmitted to the baby during delivery, which can cause serious health complications for the newborn.
According to the CDC, pregnant women younger than 25 should get screened for gonorrhea and other STIs at the first prenatal visit. This helps lower the risk of STIs causing pregnancy complications or harming the babyâs health.
How Is Chlamydia Treated
Chlamydia can be easily treated with a short course of antibiotics. You may be able to take all the antibiotics in one day, or over a week, depending on the type of treatment you are prescribed.
Its important to not have sex until you and your current sexual partner/s have finished treatment. If youve had the one-day course of treatment, you should avoid having sex for seven days afterwards. Ask your healthcare professional when its safe to have sex again.
Remember that if youve been treated for chlamydia you are not immune and you can get infected again.
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How Can I Reduce My Risk Of Getting Gonorrhea
The only way to avoid STDs is to not have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting gonorrhea:
- Being in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and has negative STD test results
- Using latex condoms the right way every time you have sex.
Std Prevention In 3 Steps
As previously mentioned, anyone who is sexually active can get an STD. And as you can see from the information provided above, some of these diseases dont show any signs or symptoms.
It is for these reasons that you should do the following if you want to reduce your risk of contracting any sexually transmitted disease:
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Chlamydia: Symptoms & Treatment Options
This is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. Although its curable, people who are infected with it become more likely to contract HIV.
Symptoms: Most people who have chlamydia arent aware of it, because it rarely has any symptoms. However, the people who have reported symptoms have complained about painful sexual intercourse, unusual discharge from their genitals, and burning while urinating
Treatment: Chlamydia can also be cured with antibiotics.
Can Gonorrhea Be Prevented
The only way to prevent gonorrhea and other STDs is to not have sex . If you decide to have sex, using a latex condom every time can prevent most STDs.
If you are sexually active, get tested for STDs every year, or more often as recommended by your health care provider. This way, you can get treated right away if you get an STD.
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Are Instant Tests Reliable
You can certainly find instant tests on the market, but these are not reliable. Being able to see results in minutes is worthless if they arent lab-certified. Many of the home STI testing kits you see on the market are just smoke and mirrors. These services may claim instant results but most of them use subpar testing methods. It is illegal to sell these within the United States.
On the other hand, at-home testing offers trustworthy and accurate results. These tests require that you provide a sample that will then be sent to a lab for, you guessed it, lab-certified results. The only difference from a clinic test is that you can screen for these infections from the comfort of your own home.
MyLAB Box offers discreet, FDA approved home testing STD kits for the most common sexual diseases and infections
Effects Of The Disease
Chlamydia can cause infertility if it is not treated. It damages sperm and scars the reproductive tract. It also damages your sperm in ways that can make birth defects prevalent.
Chlamydia can also affect you in non-sexual ways. You can get recurring pink eye, reactive arthritis and rheumatological conditions.
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Burning Sensation When Urinating
Chlamydia can cause a burning sensation when you urinate. Its easy to mistake this for a symptom of a urinary tract infection.
You might also feel like you have the urge to urinate more often than usual. And when you do go to urinate, only a little bit comes out. Your urine might also smell unusual or look cloudy.
If you have chalmydia, you might also feel some pain during sex, especially intercourse.
You may also some bleeding and lingering irritation after any type of sexual activity involving penetration.
Always Practice Safe Sex
Notice how this is under a section titled How can you reduce your risk. Reduce being the operative word. Even if you always wear a condom or a dental dam, theres a risk of infection. This is because some diseases are spread from skin to skin contact, from bodily fluids touching a part of your body, or from defective prophylactics.
This includes vaginal, anal, and oral sex. So if youre in high school and think that by going down on someone youre safe, hopefully youre reading this before going to that party.
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What Causes Gonorrhea And Chlamydia
Chlamydia and gonorrhea are sexually transmitted diseases that affect both women and men. They are transmitted by having oral, anal, or vaginal sex with a person who already has the disease.
Both STDs are caused by a bacterial infection that affects the mucous membranes, which are moist, soft tissues not covered by our outer layer of skin.
- Chlamydia is caused by the bacteria, chlamydia trachomatis, and can be found in the vagina, cervix, urethra, and rectum as well as the throat or eyes .
- Gonorrhea, also called the clap or the drip, is caused by the bacteria, Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Like chlamydia, gonorrhea bacteria can grow and infect women in the cervix, uterus, or fallopian tubes and in men, in the urethra. It can also infect the anus, mouth, and throat.
The infection is spread through semen and vaginal fluids, but the transmission of the disease is not dependent on ejaculation. While the infection comes from these fluids, it can infect the eyes and throat in addition to the vagina, cervix, penis, urethra, and anus.
However, since these fluids are required to transmit the bacteria, you cannot get either STD through casual contact. For example, it is not possible to get chlamydia or gonorrhea from holding hands, hugging, sneezing, sitting on a toilet, or sharing food. It is very unlikely to get chlamydia or gonorrhea from kissing, even kissing someone with the infection in their throat.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Chlamydia
In women
About half of the women with chlamydia do not have symptoms. When symptoms are present, they may include:
- White, yellow or green discharge from the vagina that may have a bad smell.
- Pain in the upper right side of the abdomen.
- Pain, bleeding, or mucous discharge from the rectum.
In men
Most men have symptoms, although some do not. Symptoms include:
- Clear or white discharge from the penis.
- Pain or burning when passing urine.
- Pain and swelling around the testicles.
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How Is Chlamydia Spread
You can get chlamydia by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has chlamydia.
If your sex partner is male you can still get chlamydia even if he does not ejaculate .
If youve had chlamydia and were treated in the past, you can still get infected again. This can happen if you have unprotected sex with someone who has chlamydia.
How Is Gonorrhea Treated
Health care providers treat gonorrhea with an antibiotic. It is given as a shot in the doctor’s office. It is important to get tested again 3 months after treatment to make sure the infection is cured .
All sexual partners from the past 2 months need treatment too, even if they don’t have signs of gonorrhea.
If someone still has symptoms after treatment, they may need treatment with different antibiotics. Or they may have been infected with gonorrhea again.
You should not have sex again until:
- at least 7 days after you and your sexual partner take the antibiotics
- you and your sexual partner do not have signs of gonorrhea
People can get gonorrhea again if:
- Their partners aren’t treated.
- They get treated but then have sex with someone else who has gonorrhea.
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How To Prevent Chlamydia Infection
- Avoid sexual intercourse. This include vaginal, oral and anal intercourse. Since chlamydia is transmitted mainly via sexual intercourse, abstinence is the best preventive methods.
- Use condom.
- Reduce your sexual partners. If you are serious about preventing chlamydia infection, you must reduce your sexual partners and live a healthy life.
- Ensure you get your partner screened and treated
- Get your new partner tested and treated.
- Retest for chlamydia infection after 5 weeks to ensure it has cleared
- Contact all sexual partners and encourage to go for test. This will help prevent the spread of the infection.
You asked and we answered your questions on chlamydia.
In Men Untreated Chlamydia Can Lead To:
- Epididymitis painful inflammation of the inner structures of the testicles, which may cause reduced fertility or sterility. A rare complication of Epididymitisis reactive arthritis, which causes pain in the inflamed joints that can be disabling
- Prostatitis
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How Is It Treated
Antibiotics are used to treat gonorrhea. Its important to take all of the medicine as directed. Otherwise the medicine may not work. Both sex partners need treatment to keep from passing the infection back and forth.
Getting treatment as soon as possible helps prevent the spread of the infection and lowers your risk for other problems, such as pelvic inflammatory disease.
Many people who have gonorrhea also have chlamydia, another STI. If you have gonorrhea and chlamydia, you will get medicine that treats both infections.
Avoid all sexual contact while you are being treated for an STI. If your treatment is a single dose of medicine, you should not have any sexual contact for 7 days after treatment so the medicine will have time to work.
Having a gonorrhea infection that was cured does not protect you from getting it again. If you are treated and your sex partner is not, you probably will get it again.
Finding out that you have an STI may make you feel bad about yourself or about sex. Counselling or a support group may help you feel better.
How Do You Get Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a STD, meaning it is transmitted by having oral, anal, or vaginal sex with a person who already has Gonorrhea. The infection is spread through semen and vaginal fluids, but the transmission of the disease is not dependent on ejaculation. While the infection comes from these fluids, it can infect the eyes, mouth, and throat in addition to the genitals, urethra, and anus. Anyone can get Gonorrhea, even if they have been diagnosed and treated for Gonorrhea before. Additionally, women who are pregnant can pass Gonorrhea onto their child during birth. This can result in the baby having joint, eye, or blood infections.
Since semen and vaginal fluids are required to transmit the bacteria that causes Gonorrhea, you cannot get gonorrhea through casual contact. For example, it is not possible to get Gonorrhea from kissing, holding hands, hugging, sneezing, sitting on a toilet, or sharing food.
Certain traits do increase your likelihood of contracting gonorrhea:
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Syphilis: Symptoms & Treatment Options
Symptoms: The symptoms of syphilis will vary depending on the stage the disease is in: Primary, secondary, latent, or tertiary.
During its primary stage, you may get painless sores in the affected area: genitals, anus, or mouth. They usually will go away within a couple of weeks. However, the person will still be infected with the virus unless they receive treatment.
During the secondary stage, you may get flu-like symptoms, such as a sore throat, fever, headaches, and being tired all the time.
During the latent stage, the person wont have any symptoms. If left untreated, the illness will reach its tertiary stage.
During the tertiary stage, the disease will start to affect internal organs, including your central nervous system and your brain.
Treatment: Syphilis can be treated with Penicillin. The dosage and length of treatment will depend on the stage of the disease. You should also follow up within 6 to 12 months after treatment has ended to make sure youre cured.
Gonorrhea Compared To Similar Conditions: Uti Chlamydia And Bv
In this chapter, we compare gonorrhea to other common medical conditions. This will help you understand the most important differences from a doctorâs viewpoint.
Often, different conditions have similar symptoms and signs. Any experienced doctor keeps in mind other conditions that look and present similarly. Itâs called making a differential diagnosis.
The differences between similar conditions can be subtle. So, all signs and symptoms should be analyzed carefully:
- Whatâs the timing of the symptoms?
- How did the symptoms begin?
- How are the symptoms evolving over time?
- What do statistics tell us about the prevalence in the relevant geographic area of the conditions youâre considering?
- Other relevant questions
In this section, weâll help you distinguish the gonorrhea infection from other similar conditions: UTI, chlamydia, and BV.
We present side-by-side comparisons in tables so it will be easier to see the similarities of and differences between those conditions and gonorrhea.
After the tables youâll see frequently asked questions from real patients and an expert physicianâs answers.
Letâs proceed!
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Gonorrhea Doesnt Always Have Symptoms
Gonorrhea can be tricky, because you or your partner may not have any symptoms. Or the signs of gonorrhea may be so mild you dont even notice them. Sometimes people confuse gonorrhea symptoms with other infections. Lots of people dont even realize they have gonorrhea thats part of the reason why its such a common infection .
Gonorrhea can lead to serious health problems and even infertility if you dont treat it. But its usually easy to cure it with medicine. This is why regular STD testing is so important, no matter how healthy you feel.
Chlamydia Cdc Fact Sheet
Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted disease that can be easily cured. If left untreated, chlamydia can make it difficult for a woman to get pregnant.
Basic Fact Sheet | Detailed Version
Basic fact sheets are presented in plain language for individuals with general questions about sexually transmitted diseases. The content here can be syndicated .
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If The Clap Not Treated
Gonorrhea infection can spread through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, causing damage & serious problems.
In women, it can cause:
- life-threatening complications such as ectopic pregnancy
- blocked fallopian tubes , which can result in reduced fertility or infertility
- long-term pelvic pain
In men, it can lead to:
- painful inflammation of the testicles, which may result in reduced fertility or sterility
What Are The Treatments For Gonorrhea Can Gonorrhea Be Cured
In the past, the treatment of uncomplicated gonorrhea was fairly simple. A single injection of penicillin cured almost every infected person. Unfortunately, there are new strains of gonorrhea that have become resistant to various antibiotics, including penicillins, and are therefore more difficult to treat. Fortunately, gonorrhea can still be treated by other injectable or oral medications.
Uncomplicated gonococcal infections of the cervix, urethra, and rectum, are usually treated by a single injection of ceftriaxone intramuscularly or by cefixime in a single oral dose. For uncomplicated gonococcal infections of the pharynx, the recommended treatment is ceftriaxone in a single IM dose.
Alternative regimens for uncomplicated gonococcal infections of the cervix, urethra, and rectum is spectinomycin in nonpregnant women in a single IM dose or single doses of cephalosporins , or cefotaxime).
It is important to note that doxycycline, one of the recommended drugs for treatment of PID, is not recommended for use in pregnant women.
Gonorrhea is one of the easier STIs to prevent because the bacterium that causes the infection can survive only under certain conditions. The use of condoms protects against gonorrhea infection. Since the organism can live in the throat, condoms should be used during oral-genital contact as well.
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