Information
What is Chlamydia?Chlamydia is one of the most common bacterial STDs in the U.S. Even though symptoms of Chlamydia are usually mild or absent, serious complications may cause irreversible damage to occur before a person ever realizes he or she has contracted the disease.
What are the most common symptoms?
Women may have pus-like discharge from the vagina, painful urination, more frequent urination, pelvic pain, as well as symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Men might experience painful urination, tenderness of the penis, more frequent urination, discharge from the penis, scrotal swelling, lower back pain, and painful ejaculation. Both men and women may experience inflammation of the rectum, diarrhea, rectal pain, rectal discharge, or rectal bleeding. However, about three quarters of infected women and about half of infected men do not notice any symptoms.
How long does it take to develop symptoms? Symptoms of Chlamydia usually appear one to three weeks after exposure to an infected person, though for some, symptoms may never occur.
How do people get Chlamydia?
Transmission of Chlamydia can occur after vaginal, anal, and/or oral sex with an infected person. Also, it is possible for a pregnant woman to transmit the disease to her unborn child(ren).
Testing
What is a Chlamydia Test?
A Chlamydia Test will require a urine sample. Since symptom of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are very similar, we recommend that you purchase the Chlamydia and Gonorrhea test panel.
Do you offer a Home Test for Chlamydia?
Currently we do not offer a Home Test option for Chlamydia.
Is testing accurate?
Our contracted laboratory uses the same type of STD tests that you would receive at many doctor’s offices and hospitals. However, there is always a remote chance of a false positive or a false negative result.
A false positive result means the test shows the infection to be present when the person does not have the infection.
A false negative result means the test shows no sign of infection when the person does have an infection. False negative results can happen if the test is done within the window period (period of time between the day you are infected and when a test can find the infection in your body). The window period for Chlamydia is usually 2 to 6 weeks.
Treatment
Is Chlamydia curable or treatable?Chlamydia can be easily cured with antibiotics if caught early. However, untreated Chlamydia, even though symptoms can be mild or even absent, can cause irreversible damage, including pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), infertility in women and sterility in men. Because many people with Chlamydia also have Gonorrhea, antibiotics for both infections are usually given together.
Prevention
How can Chlamydia be prevented?The most effective way to reduce the risk of contracting Chlamydia is to use latex condoms consistently and correctly. Sexual contact should be avoided with anyone that has symptoms such as abnormal sores on the genitals, discharge from the genitals with odor, burning during urination, or bleeding between menstrual cycles. Getting tested and treatment early is the best way to prevent the transmission of Chlamydia.
