Chlamydia Sexually Transmitted Disease

Improved Essays
The most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States is chlamydia and the disease may cause serious damage to an individual’s body (Pommerville, 2014). Many individuals are usually unaware that they are a carrier of the disease due to unnoticeable symptoms. Chlamydia may be passed through vaginal, oral, or anal sex, and may me passed from mother to her fetus. No individual is immune to this sexually transmitted disease. Knowing the characteristics of the microorganism, the pathogenic factors, transmission, symptoms, and current treatment for chlamydia is a good way to understand this sexually transmitted disease. According to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, chlamydia is caused by an organism called trachomatis which causes …show more content…
Few women may show signs and symptoms when the bacteria initially infect the cervix where the infection of cervicitis may be present such as mucopurulent endocervical discharge and easily induced endocervical bleeding. In the urethra, signs of urethritis may show such as dysuria, pyuria, and frequent urination. Chlamydia infection in women can spread from the cervic to the upper reproductive tract which can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). In contrast, more than 75% of infected men show signs and symptoms similar to gonorrhea which is painful urination and pus discharge from the penis (Bauman, 2014). Infection of chlamydia may cause inflammation of the epididymis (epididymitis) and inflammation of the testis (orchitis) which can both lead to sterility. When newborns are infected, an eye disease called trachoma develops which is the leading cause of nontraumatic blindness in humans worldwide. Lymphogranuloma venereum is a severe form of chlamydial sexually transmitted disease which is characterized by an impermanent genital wound at the site of infection on the penis, urethra, scrotum, vagina, cervix, or external female genitalia. This is then followed by the development of a painfully inflamed lymph node called bubo causing groin, chills, …show more content…
Physicians prescribe doxycycline or erythromycin to eliminate genital infections in adults. HIV-positive individuals with chlamydia will receive the same treatment as those who are HIV-negative. Trachoma strains of C. trachomatis infecting the eyes of newborns are initially treated with erythromycin cream and with oral erythromycin for 2 weeks (Bauman, 2014). Surgical correction of eyelid deformities may prevent the scratching, scarring, and blindness that typically result from eye infections. After treatment, individuals with chlamydia should abstain from any sexual activity for one week to prevent spreading the infection to partners. It is crucial to take all the prescribed medication to treat chlamydia and medication should not be shared with anyone. The medication will cure the infection, however, it will not repair any permanent damage done by the disease. If an individual’s symptoms continue after receiving his or her treatment, he or she should return to their doctor for reevaluation. Repeated infection of chlamydia is very common. Sex partners who has not received appropriate treatment are at high risk for re-infection. In women, risk of serious reproductive health complications increases when she is exposed to multiple chlamydial infections. Individuals with chlamydia are highly recommended to be retested three months after treatment of chlamydia, regardless if they believe that their partners

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Chlamydia Research Paper

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Todays issue of the health times is going to be about Chlamydia Breast Cancer and Hurricanes. Please read the following I hope to help readers learn to prevent STDS get regular routine breast exams at their obygn and take all the safety precautions when there is a hurricane. Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. This infection is easily spread and there may be no symptoms you may not no it has passed to sexual partners.…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chlamydia is known as an infection that is caused by a type of bacteria that is passed during through sexual contact (Planned Parenthood 2014). It is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the United States. Statistics show that about 3 million American women and men are infected with chlamydia every year (Planned Parenthood 2014). Mostly it is common amongst women and men under the age of 25 (Planned Parenthood 2014). It is more than three times as common as gonorrhea and is fifty times as common as syphilis (Planned Parenthood 2014).…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chlamydia Research Paper

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages

    How Chlamydia Affects Young Australians Chlamydia is known to be the most common sexually transmissible disease (STI) among Australians, particularly young Australians.(1) Whilst curing the infection is often as simple as a single dose of antibiotics, notifications of chlamydia in young Australians continue to increase in number each year, flagging chlamydia as a public health concern. (1) 
This essay will focus on the determinants of health relating to the prevalence of chlamydia among young Australians over recent years, and public health interventions that could be implemented in order to protect and promote the wellbeing of the population, ultimately decreasing the number of cases of chlamydia. In this essay, the term “young Australians”…

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Sex education is vital for example, knowing how to use a condom properly, knowing the signs and symptoms of Chlamydia are also important but this article discusses screening practices along with what is cost effective. According to Taylor and Haggerty (2011), commonly doxycycline and azithromycin are prescribed to treat the bacterium, but again safer sex practices along with getting medically cleared that infected has cleared will also help reduce the spread of…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A major finding from this study was the low percentage of testing for STIs by healthcare professionals. The study found testing occurred in 2.5% encounters with patients aged 15 to 60 years old out of 29,112 patient encounters (p. 544). In patients aged 15 to 25 only 5.8% were screened for chlamydia (p. 544). From those being screened for chlamydia exam, it was found that females were screen more than males and female doctors were more likely to initiate screening exams over male physicians (p. 544). Female patients that were new to the clinic or new to the physician were more likely to being screened over clientele that were not new to the clinic or doctor.…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Epidemiology Of Chlamydia

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages

    A total of 8,827 persons age 14-39 were interviewed. Out of that number 8,536 were examined and 8,330 provided a urine sample. The overall prevalence of chlamydia was 1.7%, showing there are approximately 1.8 million infected with the disease nationally. Results were shown that non-Hispanic blacks had 5.2%, Mexican-Americans 2.3%, White, non-Hispanic…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Chlamydia Trachomatis

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Pages

    In consequence the infection develops causing the body detrimental damage that is sometimes unrepairable. This sexually transmitted disease is rather young compared to other diseases having first been…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Chlamydia, caused by chlamydia trachomatis, is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that can affect both men and women's reproductive organs. The bacteria named chlamydia tachomatis can only be found on mucous membranes, therefore, if infected can be spread by connecting with another person's membranes. Once the infection is spread, the symptoms might appear anywhere between 1-3 weeks. The symptoms include the burning sensation in the urethra and a thin and clear emission. However, at the initial stage, most men and women do not experience any of those symptoms making it even riskier.…

    • 221 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gonorrhea Infection

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Despite differences in the degree of association, both survival models found that demographic characteristics are associated with repeat gonorrhea infection, such as younger age (< 25 years), African-American race, junior enlisted rank, and one year of military service. The literature indicates that individuals under 25 years of age are at higher risk of acquiring gonorrhea, and therefore, it is argumented that they are more likely to become reinfected with gonorrhea, as well as with other contagious infections such as chlamydia. This argument is supported by the results of two systematic reviews, which found that the risk of repeat gonorrhea infection is associated with younger age in the U.S. civilian population (Fun et al., 2007; Hosenfeld…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Escherichia coli and Me The disease/infection that I have chosen is the urinary tract infection, commonly known as the UTI. Depending on where the infection occurs, there are two specific names. If the infection occurs in the lower part, like in your bladder, it is called Cystitis. If the infection travels up towards your kidneys, it is called Pyelonephritis (Umm/Health).…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chlamydia Disease

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In men, genital chlamydial infections lead to nongonococcal urethritis and epididymitis. In women, cervicitis, urethritis, salpingitis and pelvic inflammatory disease. The symptoms of these genital infections are usually asymptomatic. They are mostly detected during screening of other genitourinary infections. Symptoms in women may include fever, dysuria, abnormal vaginal discharge, painful sexual intercourse.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Chlamydia

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Kassandra Morain Chlamydia: A Silent Infection Among the age groups, teens and young adults are the ones who seem most affected by cases of chlamydia. There are a reported 3 million cases per year, but due to the fact that not every case are reported and also due to the fact that a lot of symptoms of the diseases are not recognized, the number is likely a lot higher than that. Preventable by use of protective devices such as latex condoms, there are yearly screenings and tests for chlamydia and are recommended for those who have several sexual partners and are over the age of twenty five. It is treated by a simple antibiotic, but given that the symptoms are not detected or recognized, it often progresses into something worse and a lot…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are about 92 million reported cases of the infection worldwide each year. These reports are most significant in India, with seventeen percent occurrence, and in sub-Saharan Africa, with thirteen percent (Sommers, 2011). Moreover, Chlamydia trachomatis infections are the most common sexually transmitted diseases and the most repeated infectious diseases reported in the United States. In the country alone, there are over four million cases reported annually (Fletcher-Janzen,…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Yes, it can be cured. You must go to the doctor so he can prescribe you with the proper antibiotics. Not all cases are similar so you should never share your medications, but you should take your medication regularly. Chlamydia is very common If left untreated chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease.…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To many of us we know C. trachomatis as chlamydia, which is a sexually transmitted disease. “Genital chlamydiasis is the most commonly reported nationally notifiable disease in the United States.” (Engelkirk & Duben-Engelkirk, 2015, p. 373) Chlamydia’s home is on the infected hosts, which is us as humans. Any direct contact with someone who has this disease can potentially pass it on to their partner, in most cases through sexual activity.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays