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Chlamydia
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Common Questions
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1. What are the symptoms of chlamydia?
2. What will happen if I don’t get treated?
3. How is chlamydia transmitted?
4. How is it treated?
5. How can it prevented?
1. What are the symptoms of chlamydia?
People infected with chlamydia may not have symptoms, so they do not seek treatment. For women, symptoms (if they occur) include bleeding between menstrual periods and after sexual intercourse, abdominal pain, painful intercourse, and an abnormal vaginal discharge. For men, symptoms include pus or milky discharge from the penis, inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis), or of the rectal area (proctitis). Both sexes can experience painful or frequent urination.
2. What will happen if I don’t get treated?
If left untreated, 40% of women may develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) from lesions that start on the cervix but that can spread to the fallopian tubes and ovaries. This can cause infertility and increase the risk of tubal pregnancy, which is often fatal. Women who are infected and pregnant may experience heavy bleeding before delivery and premature rupture of the membranes. Men, too, may become sterile. Both sexes may develop rectal itching and red, swollen, itchy eyes.
3. How is chlamydia transmitted?
It is generally transmitted through sexual contact (oral, vaginal, or anal) with an infected partner. An infected mother can spread the disease to her baby during childbirth. These babies are in danger of developing conjunctivitis (an inflammation that can threatens eyesight) and pneumonia.
4. How is it treated?
Chlamydia can be easily treated with a course of antibiotics.
5. How can it prevented?
For information on prevention, click here.
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This article was last reviewed on
August 30, 2006.
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