Quiet Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease caused by bacteria, which means it can be cured with antibiotics. Chlamydia is usually passed from one person during vaginal, oral or anal sex or skin to skin contact. The diagnosis of chlamydia involves a sampling of the urethral discharge in males or cervical secretions in females. Chlamydia can live in the cervix, urethra, rectum, and sometimes even throat or eyes. In men, symptoms you may encounter are: burning sensation during urination, a white discharge from the penis or rectum, testicular tenderness or pain, and rectal discharge or pain. In women the most common symptoms are: burning sensation during urination, lower abdominal pain, rectal pain or discharge, liver inflammation, and vaginal discharge. Chlamydia is known as the “silent disease” because symptoms are usually mild or absent and can appear one to three weeks after you've come into contact with the disease and you may not notice until the infection gets worse. If chlamydia is left untreated, it may spread to other parts of the body causing long-term damage, and serious health problems, and in women chlamydia may even lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and may even block the fallopian tubes. If a woman is infected with chlamydia while she’s pregnant, the infection may cause the infant to develop chlamydia-related conjunctivitis which is an eye infection or pneumonia. The treatment for chlamydia is antibiotics such as, azithromycin, or erythromycin and you must complete the entire dose, or the infection may return. To avoid reinfection, any sexual partners should be treated too.  The best way to prevent chlamydia is sexual abstinence, but you can also prevent it by using condoms correctly and getting tested regularly.

Kara Jahal



Sources Cited:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/sexual_health/stis_chlam.shtml
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002321/