STD of the week: Chlamydia, AKA "The clam"

Chlamydia is the highest reported STD transmitted in the United States, with an estimated amount of 2.86 million new infections per year. 

Chlamydia can infect both men and women through unprotected oral, vaginal or anal intercourse. Sexually active young people are at a higher risk of getting and transmitting the infection. If the partner with chlamydia has a penis, the infection can be transmitted even if ejaculation does not occur.

Chlamydia can damage a woman’s reproductive system, making it difficult or impossible to get pregnant even after the infection is cured. A woman who has had chlamydia also has a higher risk of fatal ectopic pregnancies. An ectopic pregnancy takes place outside the womb.

If a woman is pregnant and becomes infected, she can transmit it to her baby during childbirth. A baby born to a mother with chlamydia can be born premature, have eye infections or cause pneumonia. 

Chlamydia can go unnoticed, but if symptoms do appear they may not occur until several weeks after intercourse with an infected person. 

Symptoms of chlamydia include:

Women: 

• Abnormal vaginal discharge 

• Burning sensation when urinating

Men: 

• Discharge from penis

• Burning sensation when urinating

• Pain and swelling in one or both testicles (less common symptom)

If the infection is present in the rectum, symptoms such as pain, discharge and bleeding are possible. 

Chlamydia can be cured with prescribed medications from a doctor. Medication should be taken properly and to completion. It should not be shared.

A person that has been treated for the infection should not have sex until they and their partner have completed the full treatment prescribed by a doctor. 

If not treated, chlamydia can spread to a woman’s uterus and fallopian tubes, causing pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID can cause permanent damage to the female reproductive system as well as long-term pelvic pain, infertility and higher risk for fatal ectopic pregnancies. 

A man with untreated chlamydia can have the infection spread to the epididymis (the tube that carries sperm from testicles), causing pain and fever. In some cases, infertility is a possibility.