Analysis of Chlamydia - Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention

Running head: ANALYSIS OF CHLAMYDIA
Analysis of Chlamydia
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1ANALYSIS OF CHLAMYDIA
Introduction
Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) that affects
both men and women. Chlamydia was estimated to be prevalent among 4.2% women and
among 2.7% of men, worldwide (Bautista et al., 2016). According to the Australian Annual
Surveillance Report, it is the most prevalent STD in Australia that affects about 260,000 15 to
29 years old people, each year (Chow et al., 2015). Most of the affected people do not
experience any relevant symptoms and thereby spread the disease without knowing.
Chlamydia can result in permanent damage to the women reproductive system and is a
potential risk factor for ectopic pregnancy.
Cause
Transmission of the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis thorough the infected person’s
semen or vaginal fluid to a healthy individual causes the disease to spread. Having sex
without condom, oral or anal sex, touching genitals can lead to spread of the infection.
Having unprotected sex with multiple people is considered as a significant risk factor for the
disease. Young women are more likely to get the infection, due to the fact that the immature
cervical cells are more prone to infection. Even it has been reported that new-born babies can
acquire the infection from their mother during birth (Redmond et al., 2015). Therefore,
pregnant women must go through the pre-natal check-up of chlamydia test. Rarely a few
people have developed the infection in the eye due to oral or genital contact.
Signs and symptoms
Chlamydia does not usually show any symptoms in most people. About 50% men and
about 80% women tend not to show any signs of the infection. In other people, the symptoms

2ANALYSIS OF CHLAMYDIA
are only expressed after several weeks of having intercourse with the affected person.
Burning sensation while urination, abnormal discharge from genitals with foul smell and
lower abdominal pain are few common symptoms noticed in both men and women. Along
with these, women experience painful intercourse or dyspareunia and if the infection spreads
upto their fallopian tubes it results in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which causes
abnormal vaginal bleeding, while men experience pain and swelling in the testicles and
itching around the opening of the penis (Papp et al., 2014). Infection in the rectum results in
rectal pain, abnormal discharge and bleeding. People may have the bacteria in their throat
without realizing it. Oral sex with the affected person, resulting in the infection in throat
causes sore throat, cough and fever.
Treatment and diagnosis
Chlamydia can be effectively diagnosed by taking swabs from vagina in women and
by testing the urine in men. Infection in throat or anus can also be detected by swab tests.
Chlamydia is usually treated with a short 7-day course of antibiotics such as azithromycin or
doxycycline (Kong et al., 2015). The patients are instructed to follow the dosage properly and
strictly avoid having sex during the treatment to avoid the risk of exposure. Even sex is
prohibited for 7 days after the antibiotic dosage completes. To avoid chances of repeated
infection, patients should be tested three months after the treatment.
Complications
If left untreated, the infected person has a higher chance of developing AIDS and till
date there is no cure for HIV infection. If the infection is not treated, it can spread to the
uterus and fallopian tubes of women and result in PID which can permanently damage the
reproductive system of women leading to long-term pelvic pain, infertility and ectopic