Chlamydia
Chlamydia is close to becoming a crisis among sexually active teenagers. Could you be at risk?
What is chlamydia?
An increasingly common sexually transmitted disease, caused by a bacteria called chlamydia trachomatis. The FPA estimate that 10% of sexually active teenagers in the UK have this infection, which can cause infertility. Genital chlamydia remains the most commonly diagnosed STI in GUM clinics. Cases have doubled over the last ten years (121,986 cases in 2007, up from 48,726 in 1998).
How is it caught?
Chlamydia is picked up and passed on through unprotected vaginal, oral or anal sex. The bacteria cannot survive outside the body, which makes intimate sexual contact the central risk. As an indication, symptoms can appear between 7-21 days after infection.
According to a screening programme in 2006 by the Health Protection Agency, one in seven young men aged 20-24 and just over one in eight girls aged 16-19 are infected with Chlamydia.
What are the symptoms?
Chlamydia often has no symptoms at all, but you shoudl look out for the following:
In males
- A stinging sensation when peeing
- Discharge from the penis
- Pain or tenderness in the testicles
In females:
- Peeing stings
- Vaginal discharge
- Pain in the pelvis during sex
- Bleeding between periods
- If the infection is caught from anal sex, there can also be pain and discharge from the anus.
Tests
If you think you might have a sexually transmitted infection, sort it out straight away. Go to your nearest genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic, available at most large hospitals. GUM clinics give free and confidential advice and treatment. Or you can make an appointment to see your GP.
In England, if you want to avoid going to a clinic and you're aged under 25, your local primary healthcare trust may send you a pack in the post for free. Otherwise you can buy a pack for £25. You provide a urine sample that will be sent to a laboratory for testing, and you'll receive the results by post. Details available on the National Chlamydia Screening Programme website.
Treatment
The infection is easily treated by a course of antibiotics, prescribed by the doctor treating you. The tablets may take a while to work and it is vital that all the tablets are taken. The infection can get into the eyes so hands must be washed thoroughly after touching the genital area.
In England, if you're 16 and over and you've tested positive for Chlamydia, you'll be able to buy antibiotic treatment at your local chemist. If you've tested positive you'll be able to buy the azithromycin drug, sold as Clamelle, which costs £20. It's the first oral antibiotic to be approved for over-the-counter sale in Britain. It will also be available to any of your previous sexual partners, too.
Complications
If it is left untreated, chlamydia can cause serious damage to your health.
Males:
- Damage to the testicles and possible sterility
- Infection of the prostate gland
- Reiter's Syndrome (arthritis and sore eyes)
Females:
- Infection of the womb and fallopian tubes
- Infertility
- Increased risk of ectopic pregnancey
- Inflammation around the liver
- Reiter's Syndrome
Babies:
- If a woman has untreated chlamydia, her baby may be born with the infection. It can cause the baby to have eye damage or pneumonia
Reduce your risk of infection
As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Rather than worry you've got an STI, make sex safer by using condoms every time.
