Chlamydia has become nowadays one of the most frequent sexually transmitted disease, affecting every year about 4 million people in the US and a lot more in the whole world, as statistics say.

The bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis can affect both women and men (heterosexual and homosexual), working its way through the body to the genital organs, the lymph nodes, the eyes and even the urinary system. The bacterium is mostly transmitted from one person to another by unprotected sexual intercourses. Another way this bacterium can get in the human body is during natural birth, from mother to baby. In this case Chlamydia will affect the baby’s eyes, causing a form of conjunctivitis, or will lead to pneumonia.

Chlamydia can be easily transmitted through vaginal, oral or anal sex.

Chlamydia can be treated with proper antibiotics, but the bad news is that Chlamydia is not always diagnosed in time as sometimes it does not give any symptoms at all. It just works upon our body in a silent way and the consequences of this are quite severe: infertility.

When the symptoms do appear, they are most visible during week nr.1 to 3 after the infection was produced. Women might sense a change in their vaginal discharges, might complain of burning or painful sensation when urinating. Men might feel burnings when urinating, itchiness in the urethral area, and observe even urethral secretions.

Chlamydia generally affects the urethra and the cervix, but it can also migrate to the fallopian tubes causing pain during sexual intercourse, a constant lower abdominal pain, and sometimes even bleeding outside the menstrual periods.

In case your doctor informs you that you are infected with Chlamydia, your sexual partner will have to follow the treatment too as he can be infected too if you had unprotected sex. Doctors recommend antibiotics like azithromycin or doxycycline for treating Chlamydia. Sex should be avoided until you and your partner have finished the treatment. After you have cleared the infection you should go for a follow up test (after 3 months generally) to make sure everything is fine. And remember, always have safe sex as Chlamydia reinfections are possible and things might not be that easy to solve as the first time.

Learn more about Sexually Transmitted Diseases:

Read over this info graphic hosted by medical billing schools. It contains lots of useful statistics about STDs.