Understanding Chlamydia -- Diagnosis and Treatment
How Do I Know If I Have It?
If you suspect you have chlamydia, your doctor may want to test your cervical or penile discharge or urine using one of several available methods of testing.
In most cases of chlamydia, the cure rate is 95%. However, because many women don't know they have the disease until it has caused serious complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease, sexually active women should be tested for chlamydia once a year during their annual pelvic exam even if they don’t have symptoms. Pregnant women should also be tested as part of their routine lab work.
Also called the "clap" or "drip," gonorrhea is a contagious disease transmitted most often through sexual contact with an infected person. Gonorrhea may also be spread by contact with infected bodily fluids, so that a mother could pass on the infection to her newborn during childbirth. Both men and women can get gonorrhea. The infection is easily spread and occurs most often in people who have many sex partners.
Read the Gonorrhea article > >
What Are the Treatments for Chlamydia?
If you are diagnosed with chlamydia, your doctor will prescribe oral antibiotics. A single dose of azithromycin or a week of doxycycline twice daily is the most common treatment and is the same for those with or without HIV.
With treatment, the infection should clear up in about a week. Do not have sex until you have taken all of your medication, and do not stop taking the antibiotics even if you feel better.
Your doctor will also recommend that your partner(s) be treated as well to prevent reinfection and further spread of the disease.
Women with serious infections, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, may require hospitalization for intravenous antibiotics. Some severe pelvic infections may require surgery in addition to antibiotic therapy.
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