What Causes Chlamydia In Females

What Does Chlamydia Smell Like

These secretions combine with dead infected cells to produce discharge. A white discharge may also be caused by vaginal thrush, however, but this is usually curd-like, often odourless, or smells like bread or yeast.

In the same way What are the pink pills for STD?

Azithromycin is an antibiotic . This single-dose form of the medication is used to treat certain infections, including genital infections. It works by stopping the growth of bacteria.

Subsequently, Does chlamydia usually smell? So, what does a chlamydia discharge look like? A chlamydia discharge is often yellow in color and has a strong odor. A symptom that frequently co-occurs with this discharge is painful urination that often has a burning sensation in the genital area.

What causes fishy smelling sperm?

Fishy, rotten, or foul-smelling semen isnt normal. Eating certain foods like asparagus, meats, and garlic or drinking a lot of caffeine or alcohol can make your semen smell pungent. Try limiting these foods to see if your semen smell returns to normal after a few days. If so, theres nothing to be concerned about.

• Does chlamydia feel like a UTI?

Preventing The Spread Of Infection

It is absolutely necessary to inform the partner if you get a positive test for Chlamydia. The sooner the partner is told the more effective and simple the treatment can be. Make sure your partner gets tested and receives the treatment as well and abstain from the intercourse until the treatment of both you and the partner is finished.

What Is Chlamydia And What Causes It

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection that affect about 10 percent of women under 24 years old. It is contacted by vaginal, anal and oral intercourse. It caused by Chlamydia trachomatis.

Women that practice unsafe sexual intercourse are more likely have the disease. Sexual contact is the commonest mode of transmission. However, it could be transmitted during childbirth and women with poor hygiene.

It is often recommended that women who are sexually active conduct yearly testing for the disease. This is more important for women that are pregnant. This is because in pregnancy chlamydia can cause miscarriage, preterm babies, and ectopic pregnancy.

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Chlamydia Is Caused By Sexually Transmitted Bacteria

The bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis causes chlamydia infection, which usually occurs in the genital tract, so the cervix in women and the penis in men. In both women and men, the bacteria may also infect the rectum and the throat.

“Infections are spread during any kind of sexual activity: vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse,” says Jonathan Schaffir, MD, an ob-gyn at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

Chlamydia trachomatis can also cause conjunctivitis if the bacteria come into contact with the eyelids or the clear membrane covering the white of the eye.

Because chlamydia infections often cause no symptoms, individuals who have one may not seek medical attention or get treated for it. However, anyone who is infected with chlamydia can pass it to other people, who can, in turn, pass it to others.

How Do I Test For Chlamydia

You can get tested for chlamydia even if you dont have any symptoms.

Getting tested for chlamydia is easy and doesnt hurt. A healthcare professional will ask for a urine sample and/or take a swab from the area that might be infected. This is usually the lower part of the womb or the vagina for women, and the tip of the penis for men. If youve had anal or oral sex, you may have a swab taken from your anus or throat.

In some countries you can get a self-testing kit to do at home.

If you test positive for chlamydia, its important to tell any recent sexual partner/s so they can also get tested, and treated if necessary. If you need advice about how to do this, speak to your healthcare professional. You should also test for other STIs.

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Chlamydia Trachomatis And Infertility

Chlamydial PID is the single most important preventable cause of infertility. Approximately, 3 per cent women with chlamydial genital tract infection develop infertility. After a single episode of PID, the risk of tubal factor infertility is approximately 10 per cent, each repeat episode doubles the risk. Although the majority of patients are asymptomatic but re-infection/persistent infection with C. trachomatis leads to more severe tubal damage than other agents.

The role of C. trachomatis in the development of urethritis, epididymitis and orchitis in men is widely accepted. Though the role of this organism in prostatitis is controversial, but up to 35- 50 per cent incidence has been reported in patients with prostatitis. Infection of the testes and the prostrate is implicated in the deterioration of sperm affecting fertility. Chlamydial infection may also affect the male fertility by directly damaging the sperm as sperm parameters, proportion of DNA fragmentation and acrosome reaction capacity are impaired. However, the role of C. trachomatis in male infertility is not yet proven.

What Are The Symptoms Of Chlamydia

Chlamydia is known as a silent infection because most infected people are asymptomatic and lack abnormal physical examination findings. Estimates of the proportion of chlamydia-infected people who develop symptoms vary by setting and study methodology two published studies that incorporated modeling techniques to address limitations of point prevalence surveys estimated that only about 10% of men and 5-30% of women with laboratory-confirmed chlamydial infection develop symptoms.21.22 The incubation period of chlamydia is poorly defined. However, given the relatively slow replication cycle of the organism, symptoms may not appear until several weeks after exposure in those persons who develop symptoms.

In women, the bacteria initially infect the cervix, where the infection may cause signs and symptoms of cervicitis , and sometimes the urethra, which may result in signs and symptoms of urethritis . Infection can spread from the cervix to the upper reproductive tract , causing pelvic inflammatory disease , which may be asymptomatic 23 or acute, with typical symptoms of abdominal and/or pelvic pain, along with signs of cervical motion tenderness, and uterine or adnexal tenderness on examination.

Men who are symptomatic typically have urethritis, with a mucoid or watery urethral discharge and dysuria. A minority of infected men develop epididymitis , presenting with unilateral testicular pain, tenderness, and swelling.24

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Chlamydia Test For Women

To diagnose the infection, your doctor can use a few different chlamydia tests. Your doctor will likely ask you about your symptoms and why you think you have the infection. When this happens, its important to be as honest as possible.

Your health care provider will probably use a swab to take a sample from the cervix and send it to a lab to be analyzed. If theres a possibility the bacteria is in your throat or anus, these areas may be swabbed as well. Other tests include a chlamydia urine test to check for the presence of the bacteria.

Although many physicians do it, a chlamydia test is not automatically done at the time that a Pap test is done.

For this reason, its important for women, especially sexually active women aged 25 and under, to ask their health care provider whether theyre getting tested for chlamydia every year.

If you think you may have been exposed to an STD, youll have to ask for a screening.

Fortunately, chlamydia is easy to treat. If you suspect that you have it, youll need to:

• See your health care provider immediately before the infection does damage to your reproductive organs.
• Listen to your doctor and take all of your medicine. Even if your symptoms go away, you should finish your pills.
• Tell your sexual partner. They should know about the infection so that they too can be tested and treated.
• Avoid having sexual intercourse until you and your partner have been cured.

Since chlamydia is a bacteria, your doctor will prescribe you antibiotics.

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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Male Complications Of Untreated Chlamydia

Men can also experience complications when chlamydia is left untreated. The epididymis the tube that holds the testicles in place may become inflamed, causing pain. This is known as epididymitis.

The infection can also spread to the prostate gland, causing a fever, painful intercourse, and discomfort in the lower back. Another possible complication is male chlamydial urethritis.

These are just some of the most common complications of untreated chlamydia, which is why its important to get medical attention right away. Most people who get treatment quickly have no long-term medical problems.

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.

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Multidrug Resistant And Heterotypic Resistant Chlamydia Trachomatis

In 1980, Mourad et al were the first to report the reduced sensitivity to erythromycin. Decreased sensitivity to tetracycline was first reported by Jones et al in 1997. They identified five isolates from cases of tubal infertility which had minimum inhibitory concentration to tetracycline of 4 to > 8 mg/l, compared with control MICs of 0.125 to 0.25 mg/l. The isolates were also resistant to erythromycin, clindamycin and sulphonamide, but sensitive to ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin. Tetracycline resistance was also reported from France in 1997. In 2000, Somani et al reported multidrug resistant isolates of C. trachomatis associated with treatment failure with azithromycin.

There are no data regarding management of clinically resistant C. trachomatis infection. In vitro data suggest that resistance to ofloxacin imparts resistance to other fluoroquinolones, such as ciprofloxacin. Although many of the newer quinolones, including trovafloxacin, sparfloxacin, grepafloxacin and tosufloxacin have equal or greater MICs for C. trachomatis, these need to be tested against an ofloxacin-resistant strain,. Perhaps a prolonged course of therapy with a standard agent such as doxycycline or azithromycin would be effective against resistant C. trachomatis disease, because such therapy has been efficacious against C. pneumoniae infection in cases of relapse.

Why Wait Seven Days After Chlamydia Treatment

If youre getting treatment for chlamydia, avoid oral, anal, or vaginal sex until seven days after the treatment is over. As chlamydia is a bacteria, your health care provider will most likely prescribe you antibiotics that need time to be effective.

If your partner is getting treatment, you should wait seven days after they take all of their medicine. If you dont wait for the treatment to be effective and have sex earlier, you can get the infection again.

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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.

Can Chlamydia Be Prevented

The only sure way to prevent chlamydia is to not have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.

Correct usage of latex condoms greatly reduces, but does not eliminate, the risk of catching or spreading chlamydia. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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What Causes Chlamydia In Women

Chlamydia is a bacterium that causes an infection that is very similar to gonorrhea in the way that it is spread and the symptoms it produces. Like gonorrhea, the chlamydia bacterium is found in the cervix and urethra and can live in the throat or rectum. Both infected men and infected women frequently lack symptoms of chlamydia infection. Thus, these individuals can unknowingly spread the infection to others. Another strain of Chlamydia trachomatis, which can be distinguished in specialized laboratories, causes the STD known as lymphogranuloma venereum, which affects the lymph glands.

Chlamydia can be detected on material collected by swabbing the cervix during a traditional examination using a speculum, but noninvasive screening tests done on urine or on self-collected vaginal swabs are less expensive and sometimes more acceptable to patients. While culturing of the organism can confirm the diagnosis, this method is limited to research laboratories and forensic investigations. For routine diagnostic use, newer and inexpensive diagnostic tests that depend upon identification and amplification of the genetic material of the organism have replaced the older, time-consuming culture methods.

How Is Chlamydia Treated

Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics to kill the bacteria. After getting a diagnosis, it is recommended that any partner that you have had sexual contact with in the last 60 days, and/or your last sexual partner, be tested.

It is possible to transmit chlamydia even while being treated with antibiotics. Stay away from sexual contact until 7 days after completion of the full course of antibiotic medicationâeven if symptoms have already gone away. Three months after treatment, you should get re-tested for chlamydia .

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How Often Should I Get Checked For Chlamydia

Sexual health check-ups are recommended for anyone who is sexually active. Frequency of testing also depends on your STI risk:

• An annual sexual health check-up is highly recommended if you are sexually active especially if you are under 25.
• Get checked more often during the year if you frequently change sexual partners.
• Remember, you are at greater risk if you have sex without a condom with 1 or multiple sexual partners.

Changes In The Vaginal Discharge

Women may face discharge when affected with Chlamydia and it happens due to the presence of infection at the uterine cervix. You will find this discharge either yellow or milky white in color. It also leads to burning sensation at the time of urination.

Some studies show that Chlamydia infection can also cause troubles to urethra while leading to urinary tract infection that causes pain at the time of urination. A person may also feel frequent urges for urination. When this chlamydia in women symptoms are ignored too long then the infection may get spread towards fallopian tubes via the cervix.

In this case, following additional symptoms are observed:

• Bleeding or pain while having sex.
• Spotting in between periods.
• Some kind of heaviness can be felt by the person around hips.
• It may also lead to lower back pain or abdominal pain.

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What Happens If Chlamydia Goes Untreated

A sexually transmitted infection of chlamydia can cause an infection of the cervix, urethra, and fallopian tubes in people with female reproductive organs .

As time progresses and an untreated chlamydia infection continues to spread, serious and long-term consequences like pelvic inflammatory disease , ectopic pregnancy, infertility, or chronic pelvic pain may develop in individuals with female reproductive organs. Chlamydia bacteria travel up the reproductive tract from the vagina through the cervix to the uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, causing inflammation and infection. Once inside, the bacteria damage the ovaries and fallopian tubes, and can cause scarring . This can have long-term effects including infertility, as scar tissue can block the fallopian tubes, preventing sperm from fertilizing an egg. Ectopic pregnancies are also more common, as a fertilized egg may get stuck in the damaged fallopian tubeâthis can be life threatening.

Chronic pelvic pain is also a possible long-term consequence of untreated chlamydia infections and is a symptom of PID .

In people with male reproductive organs, chlamydia can cause an infection of the urethra and epididymis, the tube that collects and stores sperm from the testicles .

Where Can I Get More Information

Health care providers with STD consultation requests can contact the STD Clinical Consultation Network . This service is provided by the National Network of STD Clinical Prevention Training Centers and operates five days a week. STDCCN is convenient, simple, and free to health care providers and clinicians. More information is available at www.stdccn.orgexternal icon.

Division of STD Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-38271-800-783-987

References

1. OFarrell N, Morison L, Moodley P, et al. Genital ulcers and concomitant complaints in men attending a sexually transmitted infections clinic: implications for sexually transmitted infections management. Sexually transmitted diseases 2008 35:545-9.

2. White JA. Manifestations and management of lymphogranuloma venereum. Current opinion in infectious diseases 2009 22:57-66.

3. Kreisel KM, Spicknall IH, Gargano JW, Lewis FM, Lewis RM, Markowitz LE, Roberts H, Satcher Johnson A, Song R, St. Cyr SB, Weston EJ, Torrone EA, Weinstock HS. Sexually transmitted infections among US women and men: Prevalence and incidence estimates, 2018. Sex Transm Dis 2021 in press.

4. CDC. Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2019. Atlanta, GA: Department of Health and Human Services April 2021.

5. Torrone E, Papp J, Weinstock H. Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis Genital Infection Among Persons Aged 1439 Years United States, 20072012. MMWR 2014 63:834-8.

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