Symptoms can occur within 2-14 days after infection. However, a person may have chlamydia for months, or even years, without knowing it.
Symptoms can develop within a few days or weeks, but sometimes they do not appear until months or even years later.
Anita Ravi, MD, MPH, MSHP, a practicing family physician in New York City, urges physicians to make STI screenings a routine part of patient care so as to help catch and treat chlamydia, which can have long term health repercussions if not treated. “You could have chlamydia for years and not know it,” Ravi says.
Young, sexually active females need testing every year. Most people who have chlamydia don't know it. Often the disease has no symptoms. You can pass chlamydia to others without knowing it.
Apparently the disease can live inside your gut, and reinfect you out of the blue. Apparently doctors have known that chlamydia can reappear in cured patients for about 80 years, but they've been stumped as to how exactly it happens.
Most people who have chlamydia don't notice any symptoms.
If you do get symptoms, these usually appear between 1 and 3 weeks after having unprotected sex with an infected person.
Yes, Chlamydia can be dormant in the body for several years without any flare-up to trigger a symptomatic infection. This means a person could live with Chlamydia for many years without knowing because the typical symptoms don't appear.
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.
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.
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.
However, if chlamydia is left untreated, it can cause permanent damage. Your risk of getting other STIs, like gonorrhea or HIV, increases. In males, untreated chlamydia can lead to sterility (inability to make sperm).
This is because the bacteria needs enough time to multiply within your body in order for it to reach a detectable level when taking a chlamydia test. For chlamydia this is often 14 days. If you test before that 14 days is over, you may test negative, but you could still pass the bacteria on following your test.
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.
You should never wait for chlamydia to go away on its own. Left untreated, chlamydia can cause serious harm to your health.
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.
Can you develop a chlamydia infection on your own? Fortunately, you can't contract chlamydia on your own because it spreads through sexual contact with other people. Chlamydia bacteria does, however, thrive in vaginal fluid, semen, and pre-ejaculate (the fluids that the penis may release before sexual climax).
Apart from being infected at birth you can not catch chlamydia without performing some form of sexual act. However, you don't have to have penetrative sex to get infected, it is enough if your genitals come in contact with an infected person's sexual fluids (for example if your genitals touch).
The bacteria are usually spread through sex or contact with infected genital fluids (semen or vaginal fluid). You can get chlamydia through: unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex. sharing sex toys that are not washed or covered with a new condom each time they're used.
Because chlamydia can be dormant for years without being symptomatic, infected persons may easily transmit the disease to sexual partners without knowing. The ability to lie dormant may also be a reason why chlamydia is so good at hiding in the digestive system despite being eradicated elsewhere.
Share on Pinterest It may take weeks or even months for a person to notice any symptoms of chlamydia. Symptoms of chlamydia may appear in the vulva 1–3 weeks after a person comes into contact with the infection. However, in some cases, it can be months afterward.
Some refer to chlamydia as a “silent” infection. This is because most people with the infection have no symptoms or abnormal physical exam findings.
Early-stage Chlamydia trachomatis infections often cause few or no signs and symptoms. Even when signs and symptoms occur, they're often mild, making them easy to overlook. Signs and symptoms of Chlamydia trachomatis infection can include: Painful urination.
Understanding Trichomoniasis
Chlamydia and trichomoniasis are similar infections and they are commonly confused, but it's important to know the difference, as the two infections are not treated with the same antibiotic. Trichomoniasis (trich) is caused by a parasite called Trichomonas Vaginalis.