trachomatis RNA and DNA are cleared after 2 weeks [14, 17, 25]. Intermittent positive results or blips have been previously described by several studies; between 5 and 18 % of patients had a positive test result following a previous negative result after treatment [9, 14, 17–19].
Following single-dose treatment for chlamydia, both pregnant and nonpregnant women should test negative with NAAT by 30 days post-treatment. Clinicians should collect a test-of-cure in pregnant women no earlier than 1 month.
If nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) are used, patients should not be retested less than three weeks post-treatment, due to the risk of false-positive test results. In general, a test-of-cure is not recommended for non-pregnant patients who received first-line therapies.
Chlamydia is a bacterial infection (like strep throat or an ear infection), which means that once you've been treated and tested negative for it (to make sure the antibiotics worked), it's gone.
Retesting 3 months after diagnosis of chlamydia, gonorrhea, or trichomoniasis can detect repeat infection and potentially can be used to enhance population-based prevention (136,137).
If you take the treatment according to the instructions, you won't usually need a test to check the chlamydia has gone. If you're aged under 25, you should be offered a repeat test 3 months after finishing the treatment. This is because you're at a higher risk of getting chlamydia again.
Our tests are incredibly sensitive and if you do re-test again too early (within 6 weeks of treatment) you are likely to receive a false positive result due to the residual DNA which is present.
The 'window period' is the length of time it can take between catching an infection and when it will show in a test. The window period for the most common STI tests are: Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea - Up to 2 weeks. HIV - 45 days or 90 days, depending on the type of test.
If you're being treated for chlamydia, it's important to avoid sex until 7 days after finishing your medicine. This gives your body time to clear up the infection completely to make sure it doesn't get passed on to anyone.
Chlamydial infection occasionally persists due to treatment failure, but repeat positivity upon retesting is most often due to reinfection from an untreated sexual partner or an infected new partner [4, 5].
Women and men with chlamydia should be retested about three months after treatment of an initial infection, regardless of whether they believe that their sex partners were successfully treated.
A doctor can test for chlamydia by swabbing the vagina, cervix, rectum, or throat, or by taking a urine sample. If symptoms appear, they usually present within 7–21 days of exposure. A test can normally detect chlamydia within 1–2 weeks of exposure.
The results will normally be available in 7 to 10 days. If there's a high chance you have chlamydia – for example, you have symptoms of the infection or your partner has been diagnosed with it and you've had unprotected sex with them – you might start treatment before you get your results.
Testing for chlamydia is most accurate 7-10 days or longer after sexual contact. However, chlamydia has been detected as early as 3-4 days after becoming infected, in some cases. You can have chlamydia without symptoms!
A significant number of men do not typically show symptoms for STDs such as chlamydia although they are very capable of spreading the disease. Even though they are generally asymptomatic or dormant, they will still test positive for the STD. Most STDs that are in a dormant stage can be detected with a test.
Chlamydia can stay dormant in a person's body for years without apparent symptoms. In some cases, symptoms appear within 2-14 days after infection. However, some people, especially men, may have Chlamydia for years without knowing it.
Chlamydia treatment may fail twice due to bacterial resistance to antibiotics, issues with the absorption of medication into the body, or not following the full course of antibiotics. People may also have a repeat infection rather than treatment failure.
In as little as one day, chlamydia may show up in your system, but testing should be done at least five days after exposure. It is recommended you retest two weeks after treatment to make sure you are free of the infection.
In some cases, a person may also have a false-negative test result. This can happen if they test too soon after exposure. For example, if a person tests the day after sex with a partner who has chlamydia, the bacteria may not have had the chance to grow to detectable levels.
Chlamydia can usually be effectively treated with antibiotics. More than 95% of people will be cured if they take their antibiotics correctly. You may be started on antibiotics once test results have confirmed you have chlamydia.
It takes seven days for the medicine to cure chlamydia. If you have sex during those first seven days you can still pass the infection on to your sex partners and you can also get re-infected yourself.
As long as you're sexually active, you should be tested for STDs at least once a year. If you have more than one partner, share intravenous (IV) needles, or don't always practice safer sex by using a condom each time you have intercourse, you should be tested every three to six months.
As most people do not have symptoms, it is possible the person (who tested positive) could have had chlamydia/gonorrhea from a previous relationship, and has not passed it to their partner yet. It is never 100% that you will pass an STI when you have sex.
False-positive Chlamydiazyme results during urine sediment analysis due to bacterial urinary tract infections.
This test tells you if you have the chlamydia infection. Your provider takes a sample of urine or secretions from your vagina, penis or rectum and sends it to a lab for testing. Results are usually ready in a day.