What Are Symptom Of Chlamydia

When To See A Healthcare Provider

It’s important to talk to your healthcare provider if you have any signs or symptoms of chlamydia, any other symptoms that concern you, or if you know or think you’ve been exposed to the infection.

According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force , women 25 and under and those who are sexually active should be screened for chlamydia every year, as should older women who have an increased risk of infection.

Screening for other sexually transmitted infections is important as well, as the risk factors for chlamydia also increase the likelihood of contracting these other infections. If you are treated for chlamydia, be sure to tell your healthcare provider if any symptoms persist.

Letting Partners Know You Have Chlamydia

Sexual partners may be infected too. If you have chlamydia, anyone you have had sex with from the last 6 months needs to be informed, tested and treated.

If they dont know, they could reinfect you or infect someone else if they are not treated. dont receive treatment.

Most people will appreciate being told they may have an infection and it is an important step in preventing further infection in the community.

Your local GP and sexual health centre can help you inform your partners and let them know that they need a test. This process is called partner notification. It can be done anonymously, and your confidentiality is always respected.

You can also anonymously notify your sexual partners of the need to get tested and treated for chlamydia via the Let Them Know website if you feel unable to speak to them personally.

There are also nurses who can help you anonymously notify your partners. They can be contacted on .

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Chlamydia Tests And Treatment

Chlamydia tests are simple and painless.

A sample of cells can be collected for testing in two ways:

• giving a sample of urine
• gently wiping a swab over the area that might be infected.

Swabs only take a few seconds and dont hurt they may be uncomfortable for a moment or two.

Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. The most common treatments are:

• a single dose of Azithromycin
• a week-long course of Doxycycline.

Even if you are given a single dose of antibiotics, you need to wait 7 days to have sex.

It is important that people you have had sex with recently are also tested and treated. A clinic can contact them if you dont want to.

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Im Pregnant How Does Gonorrhea Affect My Baby

If you are pregnant and have gonorrhea, you can give the infection to your baby during delivery. This can cause serious health problems for your baby. If you are pregnant, it is important that you talk to your health care provider so that you get the correct examination, testing, and treatment, as necessary. Treating gonorrhea as soon as possible will make health complications for your baby less likely.

Telling A Sexual Partner About A Gonorrhea Diagnosis

If you donât feel comfortable telling a sexual partner directly, services like Partner Notification Services may help.

This program works with local and state health departments and helps find and notify partners to anonymously advise them of their exposure to STIs. They then help provide testing and referrals to other services.

You can learn more about the program, including how to contact your local health department, here.

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How Can I Prevent Getting Chlamydia And Gonorrhea

Get some information about their sexual history. Get some information about any recently treated diseases. Have safe sex with right utilization of a condom. Utilize a condom each time you have vaginal, oral, or butt-centric sex. Get tried for explicitly sent diseases in the event that you or your partner are not mono

gamous

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How It’s Passed On

You can get chlamydia through:

• sharing sex toys that are not washed or covered with a condom each time they are used on a different person
• your genitals coming into contact with your partners genitals
• infected semen or vaginal fluid getting in your eye.

It’s not yet known whether chlamydia is spread on fingers when you touch an infected part of the body, then touch other parts of your body or someone elses.

Using the external or internal condom cuts the risk. Other types of contraception, such as the contraceptive pill, offer no protection against STIs.

If you are living with HIV, having untreated chlamydia could make it more likely that youll pass on HIV during unprotected sex. But if HIV drugs have made your viral load undetectable then chlamydia or other infections dont appear to make you more likely to pass on HIV.

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Can Std Symptoms Appear The Next Day

It is possible for STD symptoms to appear the next day, but it largely depends on the sexually transmitted disease you have been exposed to, as well as the severity of symptoms your sexual partner is experiencing. However, the likelihood of waking up the day after the night before with very noticeable or extreme STD symptoms is low.

There are a number of sexually transmitted diseases that may have early signs and symptoms. These include two of the more common infections, Herpes & Gonorrhea.

Signs And Symptoms Of Chlamydia

Chlamydia is known as one of the silent diseases which can produce no symptoms for a long period of time. Approximately 7095 percent of women and 50 percent of men with chlamydia do not observe chlamydia symptoms at all. The symptoms can also be mild and almost unnoticeable.

Another reason why symptoms are not the best way to determine the infection is that it is often confused with gonorrhea as the symptoms are very much alike. Asymptomatic nature of chlamydia makes it difficult to estimate how long a person remains infectious and this period is commonly believed to last until full recovery.

Chlamydia symptoms show up between 1 and 3 weeks after the contraction.

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How To Treat Oral And Nose Chlamydia

Testing of the nose and oral chlamydia is usually done by swabbing the affected area. If you have developed some sores around the nose or in the throat region, doctors will swab them to collect samples for an oral chlamydia test. These samples are tested to know about the presence of the virus. The great news is that it is possible to treat this STD with the help of some antibiotics. However, if you are infected, it is important to follow some expert rules for your sexual life until the virus is completely out of your body.

In case if you keep on ignoring the disease symptoms so long, the chlamydia infection may go from mild to severe condition, and it may cause a huge impact on your life. With time it starts causing more damage to the body, and it may be irreversible as well. Hence, it is important to start oral chlamydia medication on time.

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Am I At Risk For Chlamydia

If you are sexually active, have an honest and open talk with your healthcare provider. Ask them if you should get tested for chlamydia or other STDs. Gay or bisexual men and pregnant people should also get tested for chlamydia. If you are a sexually active woman, you should get tested for chlamydia every year if you are:

• Younger than 25 years old.
• 25 years and older with risk factors, such as new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted infection.

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How Is Chlamydia Diagnosed

There are a number of diagnostic tests for chlamydia, including nucleic acid amplification tests , cell culture, and others. NAATs are the most sensitive tests, and can be performed on easily obtainable specimens such as vaginal swabs or urine.43

Vaginal swabs, either patient- or clinician-collected, are the optimal specimen to screen for genital chlamydia using NAATs in women urine is the specimen of choice for men, and is an effective alternative specimen type for women.43 Self-collected vaginal swab specimens perform at least as well as other approved specimens using NAATs.44 In addition, patients may prefer self-collected vaginal swabs or urine-based screening to the more invasive endocervical or urethral swab specimens.45 Adolescent girls may be particularly good candidates for self-collected vaginal swab- or urine-based screening because pelvic exams are not indicated if they are asymptomatic.

NAATs have demonstrated improved sensitivity and specificity compared with culture for the detection of C. trachomatis at rectal and oropharyngeal sites.40 Certain NAAT test platforms have been cleared by FDA for these non-genital sites and data indicate NAAT performance on self-collected rectal swabs is comparable to clinician-collected rectal swabs. 40

How Does Chlamydia Spread

As chlamydial infection often has no symptoms, a person may have the infection and pass it on to a sexual partner without knowing.

It is not possible to pass on chlamydia through:

• contact with a toilet seat
• sharing a sauna
• touching a surface that a person with chlamydia has touched
• standing close to a person who has the infection
• coughs or sneezes

• conjunctivitis or pneumonia in the newborn

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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.

What Can Happen If Chlamydia Isnt Treated

Untreated chlamydia can put your health at risk. Make an appointment with your provider immediately if you notice any symptoms of chlamydia, and get regular STI screenings to avoid complications later.

Complications of chlamydia for people with vaginas

Untreated chlamydia can cause:

• Pelvic inflammatory disease . PID is a serious condition that requires hospitalization. It can occur when an untreated STI, like chlamydia, damages your reproductive organs. PID can lead to infertility and chronic pelvic pain. It can also cause an ectopic pregnancy,which is life-threatening for the fetus and potentially deadly for the mother or gestational parent, too.
• Pregnancy complications. An untreated infection can lead to pre-term delivery. Also, if youre pregnant and have chlamydia, you can pass the infection on to your newborn. Babies born with chlamydia may have pneumonia or conjunctivitis that could lead to blindness if not treated.

Complications of chlamydia for people with penises

Untreated chlamydia can cause:

• Epididymitis. Infection can spread to the testicles and the tube that carries sperm to your testicles , causing symptoms like pain, swelling and tenderness in your testicles.
• Reduced fertility. Chlamydia can harm your sperm, negatively impacting your ability to conceive.

Complications of chlamydia that can affect all genders

Untreated chlamydia can:

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Here Are The Most Typical Signs For Men:

• Pain when urinating
• White, cloudy, or clear discharge
• Swollen and painful testicles

To get on-time treatment, its important to recognize the symptoms. Thats why we have decided to list both the signs for men and women. But, do have in mind that most of the signs dont actually mean you have chlamydia.

In fact, they can also be caused by other infections completely unrelated to chlamydia. Nevertheless, you must get tested if you do recognize the signs so you can avoid any unwanted health complications.

What Are The Signs Of Chlamydia In Men

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that is caused by chlamydia trachomatis, which is a microscopic bacterium. Many people who are infected with the disease have little to no symptoms, which is why it is sometimes known as the silent disease. It is estimated that up to half of men with chlamydia have no idea that they are carrying it.

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When Should I See My Healthcare Provider

When it comes to chlamydia, its a good idea to be proactive. Speak with your healthcare provider about your risks of infection. Make a plan to get screened regularly for STIs based on your providers recommendations for how often you should be tested. Make an appointment with your healthcare provider if your partner tests positive for chlamydia or if you notice any signs or symptoms that you may be infected.

Treatment Of Chlamydia Is There A Cure For Chlamydia

Chlamydia can be cured easily and effectively with simple antibiotics once it has been diagnosed. The treatment can consist of a single dose or last up to 2 weeks depending on the type of chlamydia. The infected person should not have penetrative sex until receiving a negative Chlamydia test at an after-treatment check-up. Both partners must be treated for chlamydia and undergo re-testing after 34 months.

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How Can You Prevent Getting An Std

• Using condoms can help prevent the transmission of many STDs, but no method of prevention is 100% safe.
• Sometimes, STDs may affect areas not ordinarily covered by a condom during sexual activity.
• Prevention can also be difficult because many people will not show specific signs or symptoms of an STD even though they may be infected.
• While abstinence from sexual activity is the only absolute way to prevent STDs, limiting the number of sexual partners can help reduce the risk of exposure to infections.
• Early diagnosis and recognition of infections as well as counseling about STDs and risk can help avoid the further spread of infections.

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About The Chlamydia & Gonorrhoea Test For Women

• What the test is for

  If you are unsure whether you need this test, you can take our free STI assessment. If you have symptoms, we recommend attending your local sexual health clinic.

• Required samples for the chlamydia and gonorrhoea test

  To test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, you will need to provide a vaginal swab.

  The test kit contains all the information and equipment you will need to safely collect this sample at home.

• When to take the chlamydia and gonorrhoea test

  We recommend doing the test 2 weeks after the unprotected sex. Tests done too early may not be accurate.

  However, if you think you might have chlamydia or gonorrhoea, you can test immediately and repeat the test two weeks after having sex .

• Accessing results

  Test results are normally ready within 3 working days of your sample arriving at our partner laboratory. You will receive a text and an email when your results are ready.

  If you dont receive your results within seven days of posting your sample, contact us via your Patient Record.

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More About Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

For women, one of the most serious complications from untreated chlamydia is pelvic inflammatory disease .

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1020% of women with untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea infections may develop PID. And 1 in 8 women with a history of PID experience difficulties getting pregnant. PID can also cause ectopic pregnancy and chronic pelvic pain.

Like chlamydia, it is possible for a woman to have PID and not have any symptoms, or have symptoms too mild to notice, for an unknown period of time. If symptoms do occur, they could include:

• Dull pain or tenderness in the lower abdomen
• Burning or pain when you urinate
• Nausea and vomiting
• Increased or changed vaginal discharge
• Pain during sex

When To Seek Medical Advice

If you have any symptoms of chlamydia, visit your GP, community contraceptive service or local genitourinary medicine clinic as soon as possible.

Find a sexual health clinic.

You should also get tested if you don’t have any symptoms but are concerned you could have a sexually transmitted infection .

If you’re a woman, sexually active and under 25 in England, it’s recommended that you have a chlamydia test once a year, and when you have sex with new or casual partners.

If you’re a man, sexually active and under 25 in England, it’s recommended that you have a chlamydia test once a year if you are not using condoms with new or casual partners.

Read more about chlamydia diagnosis.

Page last reviewed: 01 September 2021 Next review due: 01 September 2024

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Female Complications Of Untreated Chlamydia

Some women develop PID, an infection that can damage the uterus, cervix, and ovaries. PID is a painful disease that often requires hospital treatment.

Infertility is also possible if chlamydia is left untreated because the fallopian tubes may become scarred.

During pregnancy, the infection can to babies during birth, which can cause eye infections and pneumonia in newborns.