Exact Answer: Up To 7 Days
Chlamydia is a fairly common disease in the category of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI), and the cause of the disease is a bacterium named “Chlamydia Trachomatis.” It can be passed through vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse.
However, it is not necessary that chlamydia would only be passed through when there is complete intercourse, it can also be passed if the genitals touch as it is a contagious disease.
Moreover, a person can also get infected with Chlamydia if they come in contact with infected semen, or get it in their eye. It cannot pass through general touches like hugging or shaking hands.
How Long After Chlamydia Exposure Are You Contagious?
As contagious as Chlamydia is, the average person might not feel the symptoms until much later when the infection has taken place. Some of the symptoms a person having Chlamydia might face can include an increase in the vaginal discharge from normal days, they can also experience pain or a burning sensation during sex, it can also come off as a burning sensation while peeing, or heavier periods.
For men, symptoms of Chlamydia may include pain in testicles or swelling in testicles, burning sensation while peeing, etc. Chlamydia is common in women and men below the age of 25.
However, the infection caused by Chlamydia can be cured by antibiotics, and easily so. Chlamydia, however, can also be transmitted from the pregnant mother to her child.
The symptoms of Chlamydia appear after three weeks of the infection and are more easily seen in men rather than women.
Any sexually active person can experience Chlamydia as it is a fairly common STI and seen within younger people. The infected person can transmit the bacteria up to 7 days after getting it, and hence there is a high risk of exposure.
Moreover, as Chlamydia is also known as the “silent” infection, the infected person may or may not know that they have the disease and get other people exposed to the same. Even though the initial symptoms of the infection are not huge, they can cause long-term problems if not treated rightly. In women, the infection can spread to the uterus, and in men, it can damage the tube that carries the sperms.
| Sex Of The Person Infected | Symptoms |
| Female | Increase in Vaginal Discharge, Burning Sensation while Peeing |
| Male | Burning sensation while Peeing, Pain in Testicles |
Why Are You Contagious Up To After 7 Days Of Chlamydia Exposure?
Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection that can be transferred through vaginal, anal, or oral intercourse or sex. Women can have Chlamydia infect their cervix, throat, or rectum whereas men can get infected in their urethra, throat and, rectum.
The biggest exposure to getting Chlamydia is to have unprotected sex, however, that might be. It is more common than young women and a part of the reason is that the symptoms of the infections do not show up until after you have been infected for 3 weeks which is a risk of going around and transmitting it to other people.
However, there are lab tests to diagnose Chlamydia, and sexually active people should have the test done frequently, pregnant women get that test at their first visit to the doctor.
Even though the symptoms of Chlamydia do not seem that harmful, it is only because the infection should not spread in the body. If spread in the body, Chlamydia can harm the uterus and the fallopian tubes in women, which can lead to serious consequences in the future like damage to the reproductive system, infertility, etc. In men, it does not cause bigger health problems but it can spread to the tube which carries the sperm, which can sometimes result in infertility.
The reason it can be transmitted after seven days is that the person does not realize the symptoms are of infection, rather, the symptoms appear about 3 weeks after the spread, during which they could transfer the disease through sexual contact.
Conclusion
Chlamydia is categorized as a Sexually Transmitted Infection that is mainly caused by the virus named Chlamydia Trachomatis and is one of the fairly common infections. It can be transferred through sexual contact in the vagina, mouth, or anus, and also through touching the infected semen or getting it into the eye. It can be called a silent infection as the symptoms do not appear clearly after about 3 weeks of having the infection. It can cause serious problems like infertility in both men and women if not treated on time. It is the most common in people below the age of 25.