How long carry chlamydia

Two-thirds of new chlamydial infections occur among youth aged years. Disparities persist among racial and ethnic minority groups. Among MSM screened for rectal chlamydial infection, positivity has ranged from 3.

Chlamydia is transmitted through sexual contact with the penis, vagina, mouth, or anus of an infected partner. Ejaculation does not have to occur for chlamydia to be transmitted or acquired.

Chlamydia can also be spread perinatally from an untreated mother to her baby during childbirth, resulting in ophthalmia neonatorum conjunctivitis or pneumonia in some exposed infants. People who have had chlamydia and have been treated may get infected again if they have sexual contact with a person infected with chlamydia. Any sexually active person can be infected with chlamydia.

It is a very common STD, especially among young people. Sexually active young people are at high risk of acquiring chlamydia for a combination of behavioral, biological, and cultural reasons.

The higher prevalence of chlamydia among young people also may reflect multiple barriers to accessing STD prevention services, such as lack of transportation, cost, and perceived stigma. Men who have sex with men MSM are also at risk for chlamydial infection since chlamydia can be transmitted by oral or anal sex. 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 e. Infection can spread from the cervix to the upper reproductive tract i. Men who are symptomatic typically have urethritis, with a mucoid or watery urethral discharge and dysuria.

A minority of infected men develop epididymitis with or without symptomatic urethritis , presenting with unilateral testicular pain, tenderness, and swelling. Chlamydia can infect the rectum in men and women, either directly through receptive anal sex , or possibly via spread from the cervix and vagina in a woman with cervical chlamydial infection. Sexually acquired chlamydial conjunctivitis can occur in both men and women through contact with infected genital secretions.

While chlamydia can also be found in the throats of women and men having oral sex with an infected partner, it is typically asymptomatic and not thought to be an important cause of pharyngitis. The initial damage that chlamydia causes often goes unnoticed. 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. Chlamydia is easily cured with antibiotics.

This means you can have the infection without knowing — you could have had it for months or even years. Apart from being infected at birth you can not catch chlamydia without performing some form of sexual act. The majority of chlamydial infections in women do not cause any symptoms.

You can get chlamydia in the cervix opening to the womb , rectum, or throat. You may not notice any symptoms. Chlamydia can be passed when the mucous membrane—the soft skin covering all the openings of the body—comes into contact with the mucous membrane secretions or semen of an infected person.

This is what happens during unprotected sex that is sex without a condom whether vaginal or anal sex. When will the signs and symptoms go away? Discharge or pain when you urinate should improve within a week. By subscribing, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. How long can you carry chlamydia? My bf broke out in a rash a few weeks ago, we both rushed to get our tests in fear of genital herpes How does this happen?

Read Responses. If your bf was neg and you two have been sexually active for awhile I would question if you had a false positive or he had a false Neg. Have either or both of you been treated?

If not I would get a second test, both of you If you both have been treated then you won't ever know if it was a false pos. Helpful - 0.