Chlamydia is a common STD that can cause infection among both men and women. It can cause permanent damage to a woman's reproductive system. This can make it difficult or impossible to get pregnant later. Chlamydia can also cause a potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy that occurs outside the womb).
The initial damage that chlamydia causes is often unnoticed. However, infections can lead to serious health problems with both short- and long-term effects. If a woman does not receive treatment, chlamydia can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes, causing PID.
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.
Chlamydia can usually be effectively treated with antibiotics. More than 95% of people will be cured if they take their antibiotics correctly. You may be started on antibiotics once test results have confirmed you have chlamydia.
Is chlamydia a lifelong illness? When treated, chlamydia is fully curable. If left untreated, however, chlamydia can have serious, lifelong consequences for women. So if you are sexually active, it's important to have regular STD tests and well-woman visits.
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.
Having different test results does not necessarily mean that one partner has been unfaithful. It also does not mean that the partner who tested negative is immune. They might eventually develop chlamydia or another sexually transmitted infection (STI).
The report titled HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia: Annual surveillance report shows that in 2021 there were 86,916 diagnoses of chlamydia, 26,577 of gonorrhoea and 5,570 of infectious syphilis in Australia.
Men rarely have health problems from chlamydia. The infection can cause a fever and pain in the tubes attached to the testicles. This can, in rare cases, lead to infertility. Untreated chlamydia may also increase your chances of getting or giving HIV.
Yes. Chlamydia can be treated and cured. Some sexually transmitted bacterial infections are starting to become resistant to antibiotics, though, and this makes them harder to treat. With this in mind, the best way to fight chlamydia is to prevent infections from spreading.
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.
As most people do not have symptoms, it is possible the person (who tested positive) could have had chlamydia/gonorrhea from a previous relationship, and has not passed it to their partner yet.
Chlamydia isn't spread through casual contact, so you CAN'T get chlamydia from sharing food or drinks, kissing, hugging, holding hands, coughing, sneezing, or sitting on the toilet. Using condoms and/or dental dams every time you have sex is the best way to help prevent chlamydia.
What are the symptoms? Symptoms can occur within 2-14 days after infection. However, a person may have chlamydia for months, or even years, without knowing it.
Chlamydia Incubation Period: between 7 and 21 days. Chlamydia Window Period: between 1 and 5 days.
At least half of all men with chlamydia don't notice any symptoms. If they do get symptoms, the most common include: pain when urinating. white, cloudy or watery discharge from the tip of the penis.
If they do get symptoms, the most common include: Pain when urinating. White, cloudy, or watery discharge from the tip of the penis. Burning or itching in the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the body)
The bacteria are usually spread through sex or contact with infected genital fluids (semen or vaginal fluid). You can get chlamydia through: unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex. sharing sex toys that are not washed or covered with a new condom each time they're used.
Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Australia, particularly among young people aged between 15 and 25 years. You can reduce your risk of getting chlamydia by practising safe sex, and limiting your sexual partners.
If you're being treated for chlamydia, it's important to avoid sex until 7 days after finishing your medicine. This gives your body time to clear up the infection completely to make sure it doesn't get passed on to anyone.
In Australia, we consider the window period for chlamydia to be between 1-5 days, but most accurate after 7 days. If you have questions about the timing of your results, please ask your testing service.
Apart from being infected at birth you can not catch chlamydia without performing some form of sexual act. However, you don't have to have penetrative sex to get infected, it is enough if your genitals come in contact with an infected person's sexual fluids (for example if your genitals touch).
The decision to stay with your partner who gave you an STD is personal and depends on the dynamic in your unique relationship. Even if infidelity was the cause, you and your partner can move forward and re-establish a healthy relationship. At the same time, you have no obligation to stay with your partner, either.
Patients with Chlamydia are more likely to suffer relationship breakup soon after diagnosis than STI clinic attenders without an STI. Health advice should include reassurance about sexual relationships as well as safer sex.
While it is possible to have vaginal, oral, or anal sex with an infected partner and not get infected, it's unlikely. For more information, check out the “Prevention” link on the home page. What symptoms can develop if you get chlamydia or gonorrhea after giving oral sex?