In women, untreated chlamydia or gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which can lead to health problems like ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the womb) or infertility (inability to get pregnant). In men, chlamydia and gonorrhea can cause a painful condition in the tubes attached to the testicles.
In fact, women who become reinfected with chlamydia have an even higher risk for PID and ectopic pregnancy than those with a first infection. Due to these risks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that any person who tests positive for chlamydia be retested three months after treatment.
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].
With treatment, chlamydia should go away within a week or two, however, the test may remain positive for 4 weeks after treatment. It's important to take all antibiotics to fight the infection. Don't have sex during treatment, or you could get reinfected.
If chlamydia treatment fails twice, it may be due to antibacterial resistance, lack of adherence to a treatment regimen, or issues with absorbing antibiotics into the body. It is also common to get chlamydia more than once, so it may be a repeat infection rather than treatment failure.
If left untreated, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women, which can lead to chronic pain and infertility. In men, untreated chlamydia can cause pain and swelling in one or both testicles. If detected early, chlamydia may be treated with a single dose of antibiotics.
Late-stage chlamydia refers to an infection that has spread to other parts of the body. For example, it may have spread to the cervix (cervicitis), testicular tubes (epididymitis), eyes (conjunctivitis), or throat (pharyngitis), causing inflammation and pain.
Does chylamedia stay in the body even if its been cured? Nope! Chlamydia is easily cured with antibiotics. 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.
Yes, the right treatment can cure chlamydia. It is important that you take all of the medicine your healthcare provider gives you to cure your infection. Do not share medicine for chlamydia with anyone. When taken properly it will stop the infection and could decrease your chances of having problems later.
o It is very important to get tested again for chlamydia and/or gonorrhea about three months after you were treated in order to find any new infections early, before they do more harm to your body. You should get tested again even if you are sure that all of the people you are having sex with got medicine.
Following single-dose treatment for chlamydia, both pregnant and nonpregnant women should test negative with NAAT by 30 days post-treatment.
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.
What Happens if You Get Chlamydia Two Times? If you contract chlamydia a second (or third time) and do not seek treatment, you can experience potentially serious negative effects on your reproductive health. Chlamydia is associated with infertility in women and potentially lower sperm quality in men.
You need to take the full course of antibiotics. Don't have sex with anyone while you are being treated. If your treatment is a single dose of antibiotics, wait at least 7 days after you take the dose before you have sex. Even if you use a condom, you and your partner may pass the infection back and forth.
Chlamydia Infection May Have Long-Term Health Consequences
Pelvic inflammatory disease, an infection of the upper reproductive tract. Scarring in the reproductive tract that causes infertility. Higher risk of ectopic pregnancy.
There is no clear timeline on how long it may take for this to occur - while one study suggests that after exposure to the bacteria, it can take a few weeks for PID to develop, the NHS estimates that 1 in 10 women with untreated chlamydia could go on to develop PID within a year.
Without medical intervention, a chlamydia infection can persist for years if gone unnoticed [1]. Fortunately, once diagnosed, a healthcare provider can provide patients with the right medication to treat the sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Chlamydia Dormancy Facts
Although some symptoms can appear within weeks of contact, there have been reports of chlamydia remaining dormant for over twenty years. If you have had recent sexual contact and wonder about chlamydia infections, don't hesitate to test. Listen to your body.
Like other Chlamydia species, the C. trachomatis life cycle consists of two morphologically distinct life stages: elementary bodies and reticulate bodies. Elementary bodies are spore-like and infectious, whereas reticulate bodies are in the replicative stage and are seen only within host cells.
Chlamydiae exist as two stages: (1) infectious particles called elementary bodies and (2) intracytoplasmic, reproductive forms called reticulate bodies. The chlamydiae consist of three species, C trachomatis, C psittaci, and C pneumoniae.
Chlamydia won't turn into syphilis if it's left untreated for a long period of time. But it can cause PID — pelvic inflammatory disease — in women. PID is a serious infection that harms the reproductive organs. And untreated chlamydia in men can cause a condition called epididymitis.
If one partner tests positive for chlamydia and the other does not, there are a few possible explanations: The positive test result could be incorrect. The negative test result could be incorrect. The chlamydia might not have transmitted from the person to their partner.
Flu-Like Symptoms: Fatigue, Fever, Nausea, Vomiting, or Headaches. Fatigue is a symptom of a late-stage chlamydial or gonorrheal infection. It can also be caused by Hepatitis A, B, and C.