Chlamydia

Chlamydia doesn't cause bowel problems except when it infects the rectum.

Chlamydia can not cause acne outbreaks.
Chlamydia does not cause acne.

You can get pregnant after or at the same time that you caught chlamydia. There's no special way to get pregnant with chlamydia.

If you have chlamydia while you're pregnant, it's important to get treated promptly to avoid passing the infection to your baby or to avoid pregnancy complications.

There are a number of different treatment possibilities for chlamydia. Each is available from many manufacturers and have a different appearance.

No.

The amount of time from infection to a positive test varies by type of test. Ask your health care provider for information specific to their test choice.

Yes. Both men and women can carry, spread and "catch" chlamydia. Chlamydia is caused by a bacterium known as Chlamydia trachomatis and is often known as a "silent" infection because 75% of infected women and 50% of infected men have no symptoms. This may also help explain why chlamydia is so common. In 2011, the CDC, or Centers for Disease Control, logged more than 1.4 million new infections and estimate that more than 2 million people in the U.S. may actually be infected at any time.

Yes, chlamydia is not typically treated with penicillin. It can be cured with macrolides like erythromycin or azithromycin.

If chlamydia is left untreated, it can spread to different parts of your body and do additional damage. If chlamydia spreads to the eyes, it can cause eye infections.

In women, if left untreated, chlamydia infection can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to damage of the fallopian tubes (the tubes connecting the ovaries to the uterus) or even cause infertility (the inability to have children). The infection can scar these areas and lead to infertility or an ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy that occurs outside of the uterus). If an infected mother transfers the infection to her baby, it can cause pneumonia or an eye infection that could result in blindness.

In men, chlamydia can spread to the testicles and prostate. Chlamydia can cause a condition called nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) -- an infection of the urethra (the tube by which men and women pass urine), epididymitis -- an infection of the epididymis (the tube that carries sperm away from the testes), or proctitis -- an inflammation of the rectum. This can cause swelling, painful urination, fever and pain in the lower back.

Chlamydia and gonorrhea are caused by bacteria that are spread through anal, oral, or vaginal sex. Chlamdyia is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, and gonorrhea by Neisseria gonorrhea.

Because most women and many men have chlamydia without having symptoms, it is important that you get tested regularly to make sure you aren't infected. Women 26 and under should be tested every year. Men who have sex with men should have a rectal swab once a year if they have receptive anal sex. All should get tested if they have a new partner.

yes

Chlamydia is not treated with an injection, but with pills. Gonorrhea is treated with an injection. You should abstain from oral, anal, and vaginal sex until seven days have passed since you and your partner completed treatment.

Chlamydia can't cause blindness to a fetus (that is, before birth). Babies pick up the infection only during vaginal birth to an infected woman.

A yeast infection is different from chlamydia. If your partner has both yeast and chlamydia, she could transmit chlamydia. If your partner has yeast, but not chlamydia, she can't transmit chlamydia.

Most women and many man with chlamydia have no symptoms at all. It is certainly possible to have chlamydia with only one symptom.

Some years ago, the standards for rating a chlamydia test positive or negative were different than they are now. Back then, there was a "gray zone" in the middle that was considered indeterminate or inconclusive. This meant that one couldn't say whether the patient had chlamydia or not.

Since that time, the CDC has changed standards, requiring that all of these tests previously categorized as "inconclusive" now be labeled positive chlamydia tests.

Factors besides chlamydia that led to these inconclusive results may have included infection with a few other types of bacteria, not all of which caused disease.

80-90% of females with chlamydia have no symptoms (see related link). For this reason, annual screening is recommended for all females under 26 years old, and for females with a new partner or multiple partners.

For those females who get signs and symptoms, these may include discharge, burning during urination, bleeding between periods or after sex, pelvic pain, and pain during intercourse.

Pregnancy does not affect the accuracy of a chlamydia test.

Yes, you just need a prescription.

Chlamydia can be treated with oral medication that you can take at home. You need a prescription from a health care provider to get the medication at the pharmacy.

The CDC notes 10,598 cases of reported chlamydia in Kansas in 2011, which puts the Kansas per capita rate of chlamydia below the national average (ranked 34th). (see related link).

In 2008, there were over 40,000 reported cases of chlamydia in Sweden. Because a person often has the infection without knowing, actual rates of infection are higher.