Chlamydia is a common sexually-transmitted infection that can cause infection among men and women. People who are sexually active can get chlamydia. The disease can be transmitted through oral, vaginal, or anal sex. It can cause permanent damage to a woman's reproductive system, making it difficult or impossible to get pregnant later. Chlamydia can lead to serious conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and can also cause a potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy that occurs outside the womb).
Chlamydia often has no symptoms, but it can cause serious health problems, even without symptoms. If symptoms occur, they may not appear until several weeks after having sex with a partner who has chlamydia.
Symptoms in women:
Men and women can also get chlamydia in their rectum. This happens either by having receptive anal sex, or by spread from another infected site (such as the vagina). These infections often have no symptoms, but may sometimes cause:
Because chlamydia is usually asymptomatic, screening is necessary to identify most infections. CDC recommends yearly chlamydia screening of all sexually active women age 25 or younger and older women with risk factors for chlamydial infections (e.g., women who have a new or more than one sex partner). Any woman who is sexually active should discuss her risk factors with a health care provider who can then determine if more frequent screening is necessary.
Routine screening is not recommended for men, but is indicated for specific male populations including men who have sex with men, at correctional facilities, and sexually active young men at adolescent clinics.
HIV-infected sexually active women who are age 25 or younger or have other risk factors, and all HIV-infected patients who report having receptive anal sex should be screened for chlamydia at their first HIV care visit and then at least annually. A patient's health care provider might determine more frequent screening is necessary, based on the patient's risk factors.
Call the HIV/STD Hotline 800-243-2437 to learn about a testing location near you.
Chlamydia can be easily treated and cured with antibiotics. Persons with chlamydia should abstain from having sex until they and their sexual partners complete treatment. Women and men with chlamydia should be retested about three months after treatment of an initial infection, even if their sex partners were successfully treated.
To help get partners treated quickly, health care providers may give patients extra medicine or prescriptions to give to their sex partners. This is called expedited partner therapy or EPT. EPT is available in Illinois. Ask your healthcare provider about EPT if you have chlamydia. Sex partners should still be encouraged to see a health care provider, regardless of whether they receive EPT.
You can still get chlamydia again even if you receive the appropriate treatment.
The only way to completely avoid Chlamydia and other STIs is to not have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.If you are sexually active, the following things can lower your chances of getting chlamydia:
If you are pregnant and have chlamydia, you can give the infection to your baby during delivery. This can cause serious health problems for your baby. If you are pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider about getting the correct examination, testing, and treatment. Pregnant women should be screened during their first prenatal care visit; if younger than 25 or multiple sex partners, they should be tested again during the third trimester. Treating chlamydia as soon as possible will make health problems for your baby less likely.
American Sexual Health Association
