How to Diagnose Chlamydia

Chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the United States, affects over three million people each year. Because of the danger of complications, many with painful, long-term effects, it's important to receive a diagnosis as early as possible. Read on to learn more about how medical professionals diagnose chlamydia.

Instructions

• 1

  Schedule tests for this disease with your doctor on a regular basis if you have multiple or new sex partners and/or do not use a condom. There are seldom or any symptoms, which leads to the disease being left untreated by many people and causing dangerous complications for those who suffer from chlamydia.

• 2

  Rely on your doctor for a diagnosis of chlamydia (an infection of sexual organs by the chlamydia trachomatis bacterium). You cannot diagnose this disease by yourself, and as the symptoms often mimic those of other diseases it is important to have the proper tests performed. A pap smear does not identify this STD.

• 3

  Ask your doctor for a diagnostic lab test. In women, this is done by inserting a speculum into the vaginal cavity to separate the tissues, allowing the doctor or nurse to take a swab of cervical tissue for laboratory evaluation. A swab of the **** is used to diagnose chlamydia in men.

• 4

  Submit urine for urinalysis. This is a very effective test (98.2 percent of cases are diagnosed effectively with use of this specific test) for the chlamydia trachomatis bacterium. This is a non-invasive test that is preferred by many as a method of diagnosis.

• 5

  Stay informed of new, less costly methods of diagnosing chlamydia. There are now tests that do not use cultures to identify this bacterium. One test, called the direct fluorescent antibody test (EIA) uses fluorescent light to identify antibodies; another, enzyme immunoassays (EIA) identifies chlamydial antigens.