Exactly What is Chlamydia?

You may have heard of chlamydia, but many people are not sure what it is. Chlamydia (klah MIH dee ah is an infection caused by a kind of bacteria that is passed during sexual contact.  It is the most frequent sexually transmitted bacterial disease in America. About three million American women and men become infected with chlamydia every year. It is especially common among women and men under 25.

Chlamydia is

• More than three times as common as gonorrhea
• More than 50 times as common as syphilis
• Chlamydia can infect the penis, vagina, cervix, anus, urethra, eye, or throat.

Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. This infection is easily spread because it often causes no symptoms and may be unknowingly passed to sexual partners. In fact, about 75% of infections in women and 50% in men are without symptoms.

How Do I Know if I Have Chlamydia?

A healthcare provider can do testing to see if you have chlamydia, whether or not you have chlamydia symptoms. Your medical service provider may be able to see chlamydia symptoms, such as a discharge from the cervix. Otherwise, the provider may use a swab or other device to take cell examples from the penis, cervix, urethra, or anus. You can even have your urine examined. – It is not easy to tell if you are infected with chlamydia since symptoms are generally not always apparent. But when they are doing occur, they are usually noticeable within one to three weeks of contact and can include the following:

Chlamydia symptoms in women

• Abnormal vaginal discharge that may have an odor
• Bleeding between periods
• Painful periods
• Belly pain with fever
• Anguish when making love
• Scratching or burning around the vagina
• Pain when peeing

Chlamydia symptoms in men

• Small amounts of clear or cloudy discharge from the tip of the penis
• Painful urination
• Losing and itching around the opening of your penile
• Pain and swelling throughout the testicles

How is chlamydia diagnosed?

Diagnosis of chlamydia relies after a research laboratory test to demonstrate that the organism is present, either through culture or identification of the hereditary material of the bacterias. Culture is an older and more time-consuming method of identifying the bacteria and is no longer routinely used. For routine diagnostic purposes, rapid tests that identify the bacterial genetic material are commonly used. These are referred to as nucleic acid amplification tests, or NAATs. The specimen for NAATs can be obtained at the time of gynecologic examination by swabbing the cervix, but diagnostic tests can be run on urine samples or self-collected vaginal swabs

Precisely what is the treatment for chlamydia?

Chlamydia can be easily healed with antibiotic therapy. Remedies may be given as a single dose or a 7-day course. Ladies should abstain from sexual activity during the 7-day course of antibiotics or for 7 days following your solo dose treatment to avoid spreading the infection to more people. Azithromycin and doxycycline are antibiotics commonly used to treat chlamydia infection, but other antibiotics may be successfully used as well. Pregnant women may be safely treated for chlamydia infection with antibiotics (for example, azithromycin, amoxicillin, and erythromycin ethylsuccinate, however, not doxycycline).

What if I refused My Chlamydia Treated?

For women. If left untreated, chlamydia infection can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to damage of the fallopian tubes (the tubes connecting the ovaries to the uterus) or even cause infertility (the inability to have children). Untreated chlamydia infection may also raise the risk of ectopic pregnancy (when the fertilized egg implants and grows away from uterus. ) Furthermore, chlamydia may cause unwanted births (giving birth too early) and the contamination can be passed along from the mother to her child during giving birth, creating an eye illness, blindness, or pneumonia in the newborn.

For men. Chlamydia can cause a condition called nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) — an contamination of the urethra (the tube by which males and females pass urine), epididymitis — an infection of the epididymis (the tube that carries sperm away from the testes), or proctitis — an inflammation of the rectum.

Chlamydia Prevention

To minimize your risk of a chlamydia disease:

• Use condoms appropriately whenever you have sex.
• Practice sexual abstinence, or limit sexual contact to one uninfected partner.
• If perhaps you think you are infected, avoid sexual contact and see a doctor.

Any genital symptoms such as discharge or burning up during urination or an unusual sore or break outs should be an indication to stop making love also to check with a doctor immediately. If you are told you have chlamydia or any other intimately transmitted disease and acquire treatment, you should inform all of your recent sex partners so that they can see a doctor and be cared for.

Because chlamydia often occurs without symptoms, people who are infected may unconsciously infect their sex associates. Many doctors recommend that all folks who have more than one gender partner should be examined for chlamydia regularly, even in the absence of symptoms.