How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Damage (And Why)?

How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Damage (And Why)?

Exact Answer: Between 1 And 3 Weeks

The prevailing sexually transmitted diseases are many but Chlamydia is a common disease that is having fifty thousand cases per year. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that spreads by sexual contact and it is common in both males and females. It spreads during intercourse and mostly occurs in young women.

Chlamydia is asymptomatic but when one gets affected by this bacteria the appearance of symptoms would be between one or three weeks and sometimes it would take months.

How Long Can You Have Chlamydia before it Causes Damage

How Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Damage?

Chlamydia trachomatis is the bacteria that causes chlamydia in people. Transmission of this disease doesn’t need ejaculation during sexual intercourse as mere contact of the penis, vagina, mouth, or anus even sex toys of an infected partner can cause. So, oral sex, anal sex, and unprotected vagina are common ways of spreading chlamydia.

Men and women are both common to chlamydia but mostly young women get affected by this disease. The chances of the appearance of symptoms of this disease are asymptomatic and when appear the symptoms are different in both infected men and women.

Symptoms in men:

  • Severe pain in private areas of the body like the lower abdomen, testicles, and pelvis.
  • There will be some circumstances in which men would suffer severe pain during urination and sexual intercourse.
  • Discharge from the penis, eye discharge, and even terrible pain in the eyes are the other possible symptoms that can occur in men.

Symptoms in women:

  • Frequent and irregular vaginal discharge.
  • There are chances of having painful periods and sometimes bleeding between the periods.
  • Abdominal pain, itching around the vaginal area and also having pain during both sexes and while peeing.

Sometimes the infected persons are asymptomatic but one can get to know if they are infected by having a bad odor during vaginal discharge in women and yellow or green color penis discharge in men.

GenderTime takes for the appearance of symptoms
MaleAround 1 or 3 weeks
FemaleAround 1 or 3 weeks or up to some months

Why Long Can You Have Chlamydia Before It Causes Damage?

Chlamydia trachomatis is a bacterial disease that gets transmitted easily to the private parts and takes only 1 or 3 weeks to show its symptoms. In most cases, the infected person is asymptomatic that means no resemblance of symptoms. As it is a sexually transmitted disease it affects the private parts and if they are left untreated it leads to severe conditions in both men and women.

The disease can spread from genitals to the main reproductive systems including fallopian tubes, uterus causing swelling. When the infection is severe it leads to Cervicitis(inflammation in the cervix), Urethritis(inflammation in the Urethra), and Proctitis(inflammation in the rectum and anus). These conditions are common in both men and women.

There are even other certain consequences when chlamydia is left untreated which include Pelvic Inflammatory Disease(PID), Tubal factor infertility, Ectopic pregnancies, and chronic pelvic pain. Sometimes the effect of this disease can result in women not getting pregnant. Though Chlamydia is an STD it gets cured by treating it with antibiotics which are called antibiotic therapy.

Azithromycin, Doxycycline is the most commonly prescribed antibiotics to the infected ones by doctors. In the initial stages of chlamydia one dose of 1g followed by 500mg Azithromycin is prescribed to take once a day for two days. And the Doxycycline is directed to take every day for a week. To get cured it takes only one week by following directions of the doctors and avoiding sex for that period.

In severe conditions intravenous antibiotics(medicines that get injected through a vein), and pain medicine is given and the treatment is done in hospitals. There would be retesting for every three months and needs to visit hospitals for screen testing of organs even.

Conclusion

Due to increasing cases of chlamydia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) recommend measures to control the disease. As the highest reporting cases are of women so, every woman of 25 years and younger is suggested to go for screening every year. And the same is recommended for older people also.

Taking preventive measures is always necessary when there is an increase in STDs.Avoiding multiple partners, using male latex condoms or female polyurethane condoms during sexual intercourse, getting regular screenings, and avoiding douching are the preventive measures to be free from chlamydia and STDs.

References

  1. https://www.nature.com/articles/nri1551
  2. https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article-abstract/5/5/433/620363

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