Chlamydia Information – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Definition
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection. It can cause serious problems in the both men and women. It can also be given to newborn babies by mothers who have a chlamydial infection during the last part of their pregnancy. Chlamydia is one of the most widespread bacterial STIs in the United States. There are many other species of Chlamydiae that live in the cells of animals (including humans), insects, or protozoa. Two of these species cause lung infection in humans are: chlamydophila pneumoniae and chlamydophila psittaci.
Causes
Any sexually active person can be infected with Chlamydia, it depend upon that sexually person if he has a sex with a single partner then there is no chance of that person will affected with this illness but he or she has sex relation more than one partner, there is a maximum chances that he or she may be affected by this illness. So the greater the number of sex partners, the greater the risk of this infection. Because the cervix (opening to the uterus) of teenage girls and young women is not fully matured, they are at particularly high risk for infection if sexually active. Since chlamydia can be transmitted by oral or anal sex, men who have sex with men are also at risk for chlamydial infection.
Symptoms
Because chlamydial infection does not make most people sick, you can have it and not know it. Those who do have symptoms may have an abnormal discharge (mucus or pus) from the vagina or penis or pain while urinating. These early symptoms may be very mild. Symptoms usually appear within one to three weeks after being infected.
Chlamydia may also cause arthritis; it is mortally in young men. About 15,000 men develop reactive arthritis due to chlamydia infection each year in the USA.
Among these symptoms the common symptoms are-
* Dysuria (pain on urination)
* Cystitis (bladder infection)
* A thin vaginal discharge
* Lower abdominal pain
* Mucopurulent cervicitis
* Eye infections can occur in infants born to infected mothers
* Gonorrhoea. dysuria and
* A mucopurulent discharge.
Treatment
A chlamydial infection is treated with antibiotics. Your doctor may decide to give you antibiotics while waiting for the test results. If the results show you have a chlamydial infection, it is important to tell anyone you have had sex with that you have this infection, so they can be treated too. All chlamydial infections need to be treated with antibiotics. Sexually active people being treated for genital chlamydial infections must tell their sexual partners about the infection so that they can also receive antibiotic treatment.Newborns with chlamydial conjunctivitis may be treated with antibiotics at home. Since relapses can occur, parents should watch for signs that the infection has returned.