What Are the Treatments for Chlamydia?

According to the Mayo Clinic, chlamydia is a bacterial infection that affects an estimated 4 million people every year and is one of the most common STDs in the United States. Chlamydia is not hard to treat but can sometimes go unnoticed with no signs or symptoms.

Symptoms

• According to the Center for Disease Control, symptoms of chlamydia usually appear between one and three weeks from exposure. Symptoms for men and women include a burning sensation while urinating. Chlamydia can travel up the fallopian tubes in women and cause abdominal pain, pain during intercourse, nausea and fever. Men may experience itching and burning around the tip of the penis and painful, swollen testes. Consult with a doctor if you experience abnormal discharge from the penis or vagina. The CDC also found that 75 percent of women and around half of infected men show no symptoms.

Treatment

• Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics that usually come in pill form. One dose of azithromycin can cure chlamydia in a day or medicines like doxycycline and erythromycin can be taken several times daily for five to 10 days. These are the most commonly used treatments for chlamydia and can usually cure the disease in a week or two. While undergoing treatment, the infected must abstain from sex until cured. If not, the infected person may infect or reinfect himself or his partner.

Complications

• Pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID, occurs in about 40 percent of women with untreated chlamydia according to the CDC. Pelvic inflammatory disease causes irreversible damage to the reproductive organs including the fallopian tubes and uterus. This damage can cause infertility and ectopic pregnancy, or a pregnancy outside of the uterus, which can be fatal. Women are five times as likely to contract HIV if they have chlamydia. Complications from chlamydia are rare in men but they can experience pain and fever. Eye infections like pink eye can also be contracted if the eye is touched with a hand that has infectious substances on it.

Chlamydia and Pregnancy

• Chlamydia can be passed on to a newborn during birth. This can result in the baby contracting pneumonia or pink eye. It can also cause premature births when a chlamydia infection is left untreated.

Prevention

• If a person is diagnosed with chlamydia, she should alert anyone that she has had sexual contact with so that they can be tested and seek treatment if needed. Even if only oral sex took place, chlamydia can still be transmitted and is sometimes found in the throat. The best way to prevent contraction of chlamydia is to abstain from sexual conduct. If you are still taking part in sexual activities, limit the number of partners and use latex condoms, shown to be effective in the prevention of the spread of chlamydia when used according to their instructions.