Why is chlamydia called the silent std




















However, chlamydial infections can lead to serious health problems with both short- and long-term consequences. In women, untreated chlamydia can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease PID. Symptomatic PID occurs in about 10 to 15 percent of women with untreated chlamydia. Both acute and subclinical PID can cause permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues.

The damage can lead to chronic pelvic pain, tubal factor infertility, and potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy.

In pregnant women, untreated chlamydia has been associated with pre-term delivery, 34 as well as ophthalmia neonatorum conjunctivitis and pneumonia in the newborn. Screening and treatment of chlamydia in pregnant women is the best method for preventing neonatal chlamydial disease.

All pregnant women should be screened for chlamydia at their first prenatal visit. Pregnant women under 25 and those at increased risk for chlamydia e. Pregnant women with chlamydial infection should be retested 3 weeks and 3 months after completion of recommended therapy.

Anyone with genital symptoms such as discharge, burning during urination, unusual sores, or rash should refrain from having sex until they are able to see a health care provider about their symptoms. Also, anyone with an oral, anal, or vaginal sex partner who has been recently diagnosed with an STD should see a health care provider for evaluation.

Because chlamydia is usually asymptomatic, screening is necessary to identify most infections. Screening programs have been demonstrated to reduce rates of adverse sequelae in women. Routine screening is not recommended for men.

However, the screening of sexually active young men should be considered in clinical settings with a high prevalence of chlamydia e. Sexually active men who have sex with men MSM who had insertive intercourse should be screened for urethral chlamydial infection and MSM who had receptive anal intercourse should be screened for rectal infection at least annually; screening for pharyngeal infection is not recommended.. More frequent chlamydia screening at 3-month intervals is indicated for MSM, including those with HIV infection, if risk behaviors persist or if they or their sexual partners have multiple partners.

At the initial HIV care visit, providers should test all sexually active persons with HIV infection for chlamydia and perform testing at least annually during the course of HIV care. There are a number of diagnostic tests for chlamydia, including nucleic acid amplification tests NAATs , cell culture, and others.

NAATs are the most sensitive tests, and can be performed on easily obtainable specimens such as vaginal swabs either clinician- or patient-collected or urine. 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.

NAATs have demonstrated improved sensitivity and specificity compared with culture for the detection of C. Chlamydia can be easily cured with antibiotics. Persons with chlamydia should abstain from sexual activity for 7 days after single dose antibiotics or until completion of a 7-day course of antibiotics, to prevent spreading the infection to partners. It is important to take all of the medication prescribed to cure chlamydia. Medication for chlamydia should not be shared with anyone.

Although medication will cure the infection, it will not repair any permanent damage done by the disease. Repeat infection with chlamydia is common. If a person has been diagnosed and treated for chlamydia, he or she should tell all recent anal, vaginal, or oral sex partners all sex partners within 60 days before the onset of symptoms or diagnosis so they can see a health care provider and be treated. A person with chlamydia and all of his or her sex partners must avoid having sex until they have completed their treatment for chlamydia i.

For tips on talking to partners about sex and STD testing, visit www. To help get partners treated quickly, healthcare providers in some states may give infected individuals extra medicine or prescriptions to give to their sex partners.

This is called expedited partner therapy or EPT. In published clinical trials comparing EPT to traditional patient referral i. Latex male condoms, when used consistently and correctly, can reduce the risk of getting or giving chlamydia. More information is available at www.

Genital ulcers and concomitant complaints in men attending a sexually transmitted infections clinic: implications for sexually transmitted infections management. Sexually transmitted diseases ; White JA. Manifestations and management of lymphogranuloma venereum. Current opinion in infectious diseases ; Healy, Dean of the Ohio State University School of Medicine, said that the lack of obvious symptoms is why the disease is called silent.

For those who do notice a reaction, the symptoms can include vaginal discharge, burning while urinating, bleeding between menstrual periods, a low-grade fever, and pelvic pain. Men can get chlamydia as well, and both men and women can pass it on to their sexual partners. For men, symptoms include itching or burning sensations around the opening of the penis while urinating and discharge.

Seventy percent of the time, when a woman is infertile because of blocked fallopian tubes, it's thought to be related to chlamydia, Healy said. There is also a high incident of tubal pregnancy, pelvic pain, and chronic pelvic pain linked to chlamydia. The illness should not be ignored, Healy said, since mothers afflicted with chlamydia can affect their babies at the time of delivery.

Healy says that there are simple tests that can be done to detect chlamydia. This results in delay or even complete avoidance of healthcare which further aggravates the condition of the patients. Some women may show specific symptoms that are associated with general genital infection such as:.

You can go for male chlamydia test if you suffer from any or more than one of the symptoms mentioned here. There are many clinics that offer STD tests that cover almost all types of sexually transmitted infections. If you decide to go for chlamydia testing near Arlington, you will be required to submit a sample from the site of infection to the lab technician.

The sample will be taken using a swab and tested for the presence of the bacteria that is responsible for Chlamydia infection. Urine samples are also used to test for Chlamydia.

If your test result is positive, do not panic. The bacteria of chlamydia or gonorrhea move upward through a woman's reproductive tract, first infecting the cervix before potentially moving on to the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. These bacteria can also infect the urethra and rectum. If either of these STIs moves past the cervix into the reproductive system, it can cause several complications, including:.

In addition to these complications, expectant mothers who have gonorrhea or chlamydia can also spread the STI to their baby during the birth process, which can lead to complications in the newborn.

For chlamydia these complications can include:. Because of the frequency of these STIs and their serious potential complications, both the CDC and the ACOG recommend that all women under the age of 25 be screened at their annual gynecological checkup for both chlamydia and gonorrhea. Women over the age of 25 who have a new sex partner or who have more than one sex partner should also be screened annually. Your gynecologist can diagnose chlamydia either through a urine test or through a sample collected by swabbing the cervix, urethra, or rectum.

Both chlamydia and gonorrhea are treated fairly easily through the use of antibiotics. Damage that might already be done by the disease, however, is not reversible. Your gynecologist will encourage you to take the following steps to prevent another case of gonorrhea or chlamydia:.



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