Testing for Chlamydia is straight forward and can be carried out by taking a swab sample of the infected area and then passing that into a test cartridge supplied with the self-test kit. The result is then displayed within the test cartridge within minutes giving a negative or a positive reaction to the bacteria.
You can get an at-home test for just chlamydia or select panel kits that screen for multiple STDs. A standard STD panel might include testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, syphilis, and trichomoniasis. Kits that test for chlamydia and gonorrhea are common.
You can't tell if you have chlamydia just by the way you feel. The only way to know for sure if you have chlamydia is to get tested — whether or not you have symptoms. If you're showing any signs of chlamydia, you should get tested.
A swab. A sample from the cervix, vagina, throat or anus is collected on a swab for testing. From the cervix, a member of your health care team collects a sample of the discharge from the cervix on a swab for testing. This can be done during a routine Pap test.
What is late-stage chlamydia? Late-stage chlamydia refers to an infection that has spread to other parts of the body. For example, it may have spread to the cervix (cervicitis), testicular tubes (epididymitis), eyes (conjunctivitis), or throat (pharyngitis), causing inflammation and pain.
Symptoms can occur within 2-14 days after infection. However, a person may have chlamydia for months, or even years, without knowing it.
Although chlamydia is highly contagious, it does not always transmit to a person's sexual partners. It is also possible to have a false-negative test result. Having more frequent sex with a partner who has chlamydia may increase a person's risk of contracting it.
If left untreated, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women, which can lead to chronic pain and infertility. In men, untreated chlamydia can cause pain and swelling in one or both testicles. If detected early, chlamydia may be treated with a single dose of antibiotics.
Both gonorrhea and chlamydia are sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that share a number of similarities. They're both very common STIs (commonly transmitted by having unprotected sex with a sex partner). Their symptoms often resemble each other.
You can get tested and treated at your local health department's STD clinic, a family planning clinic, a student health center, or an urgent care clinic. You can also find a clinic using GetTested and ask if they offer treatment for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
Chlamydia can be cured with antibiotics from a health care provider. However, if chlamydia is left untreated, it can cause permanent damage. Your risk of getting other STIs, like gonorrhea or HIV, increases. In males, untreated chlamydia can lead to sterility (inability to make sperm).
Over the counter medications cannot be used to treat chlamydia. Effective treatment for chlamydia relies on antibiotics, which are only available with a prescription. Over-use of antibiotics in a population can lead to bacteria, including Chlamydia trachomatis, becoming resistant to the medication.
The results of a chlamydia test are frequently available within 24 hours after the test sample is collected. For rapid chlamydia testing, results can be returned within 30 to 90 minutes. Chlamydia cell cultures take several additional days because the bacteria has to be grown in the laboratory.
Although you may not present with symptoms, you may develop serious health problems if Chlamydia is left untreated. Potential health problems may include: Infertility. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)
If untreated, chlamydia can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a serious infection of the reproductive organs. PID can cause damage in your fallopian tubes.
Your Test Results
Once you are infected, you can infect someone else. Both gonorrhea and chlamydia often have no symptoms. Sometimes only one partner will have symptoms, even though both have the disease. That's why notifying your sexual partners about the results of your test is important.
Chlamydia is very common: it's the most frequently reported infectious disease in Australia, and nearly 97,000 men and women are diagnosed with it each year. If you're sexually active and under 30 years of age, you are at the highest risk of contracting chlamydia.
People who have chlamydia for long periods without treatment risk becoming infertile or developing arthritis. For women, chlamydia can spread into the uterus and fallopian tubes, causing pelvic inflammatory disease. Pelvic inflammatory disease can lead to ectopic pregnancies, chronic pelvic pain and infertility.
If your partner has gonorrhea or chlamydia, is it possible to have unprotected sex and not get these infections? While it is possible to have vaginal, oral, or anal sex with an infected partner and not get infected, it's unlikely.
Cloudy urine. Abnormal vaginal discharge. Abnormal vaginal bleeding with intercourse or between periods.