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What Is Chlamydia?: Infertility Tubal Pregnancy Fertility

Chlamydia is a common bacterium that infects approximately 4 million women annually. It often causes no symptoms, allowing the infection to go untreated and potentially cause infertility or tubal pregnancy by destroying the fallopian tubes. Babies can also be infected during childbirth, potentially causing serious eye or lung issues. Chlamydia is detected through cultures or slide tests and treated with antibiotics like azithromycin or doxycycline to cure the infection and prevent further spread.

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Danijela Marinkovic
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39 views1 page

What Is Chlamydia?: Infertility Tubal Pregnancy Fertility

Chlamydia is a common bacterium that infects approximately 4 million women annually. It often causes no symptoms, allowing the infection to go untreated and potentially cause infertility or tubal pregnancy by destroying the fallopian tubes. Babies can also be infected during childbirth, potentially causing serious eye or lung issues. Chlamydia is detected through cultures or slide tests and treated with antibiotics like azithromycin or doxycycline to cure the infection and prevent further spread.

Uploaded by

Danijela Marinkovic
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is chlamydia?

Chlamydia is a bacterium that causes an infection that is very similar to gonorrhea in the way that
it is spread and the symptoms it produces. It affects approximately 4 million women annually. Like
gonorrhea, it is found in the cervix and urethra and can live in the throat or rectum.

What are symptoms of chlamydia?

Chlamydia is very destructive to the Fallopian tubes and can cause infertility and tubal pregnancy.
It can also cause severe pelvic infection. Because it is common for infected women to have no
symptoms, it is often untreated, leading to extensive destruction of the fallopian tubes and fertility
problems.

Chlamydia, like gonorrhea, is associated with an increased incidence of preterm birth in women
infected with this bacterium. In addition, the infant can acquire the infection during passage
through the infected birth canal, leading to serious eye damage or pneumonia. For this reason, all
newborns are treated with eye drops after birth. The drops contain an antibiotic that treats
chlamydia. Treatment of all newborns is routine because of the large number of infected women
without symptoms, and the dire consequences of chlamydial eye infection to the newborn.

How is chlamydia detected and treated?

Chlamydia can be detected by cultures or certain slide tests. Unlike cultures, which require days
of observation for the growth of the bacteria, the slide test can be performed fairly quickly. Most
labs can have results within 24 hours. However, the infection may be very mild and the more
rapid slide test results can be falsely negative. A culture can be more accurate in detecting
chlamydia.

Treatment of chlamydia infection involves antibiotics, usually azithromycin (Zithromax) or


doxycycline (Vibramycin). Unlike gonorrhea, there has been little, if any, resistance of the
infection to currently used antibiotics. There are many other antibiotics that have also been
effective against chlamydia. As with gonorrhea, a condom or other protective barrier prevents the
spread of the infection.

Chlamydia At A Glance

 There is no "safe" sex.


 Condoms do not necessarily prevent STDs.
 Gonorrhea and chlamydia are bacterial STDs that are frequently found together.
 Chlamydia infection is treated with antibiotics.
 Chlamydia infection can lead to extensive destruction of the fallopian tubes and fertility
problems.

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