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What Moms Need to Know

What is chlamydia?

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that can be passed during physical, oral, or anal sex. It can occur in the reproductive organs, in the mouth, urethra, and rectum. The most common place for this bacteria in women is the cervix. Chlamydia can also be passed from the mother to the baby during a vaginal delivery when the baby passes through the birth canal. When this happens, the baby can develop lung and eye infections. 

Chlamydia is the most common STI, with about 2 million cases in the U.S. reported to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) in 2018. It most commonly occurs in people between the ages of 15–24.

Chlamydia is known as a “silent” infection. About 75% of women who are infected do not experience any symptoms, and about 50% of men don’t either. Because so few people who have chlamydia express symptoms, many of them don’t even know they have it. This means people who have it may not be getting treated for it and continue to pass it along. 

Our bodies do not develop immunities against chlamydia, so if you catch it once and get treatment, you can get it again.  

Chlamydia can also be passed from the mother to the baby during a vaginal delivery when the baby passes through the birth canal. When this happens, the baby can develop lung and eye infections.

If a person has chlamydia, they can pass the infection along until they receive proper treatment. To treat chlamydia infection, specific antibiotics are prescribed. After receiving a diagnosis, the person is instructed not to have sex for seven days after receiving a single dose antibiotics or until they have completed a 7-day course of antibiotics. A person diagnosed with chlamydia should tell every anal, vaginal, or oral sex partner they had since 60 days before the onset of symptoms or diagnosis, so that they also get proper treatment. 

Can chlamydia affect pregnancy?

There are risks associated with pregnancy and chlamydia. If you have chlamydia while pregnant, you will be given treatment to cure the infection. If you’re treated for chlamydia but your partner did not receive treatment, you can be reinfected and will need to be retested and re-treated.

The longer a person has untreated chlamydia during pregnancy, the worse the infection can become. This leads to complications of pregnancy like preterm labor, premature rupture of the membranes, and low birth weight — complications that can affect the health of your baby or make it difficult to get pregnant at all. It’s imperative to get treatment for chlamydia if pregnant.

How can chlamydia affect pregnancy?

So how can chlamydia affect pregnancy? When chlamydia is left untreated, it can turn into a severe infection called pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID.  PID can cause many problems for women, including:

• Cervicitis (yellow discharge or  bleeding after sex)
• Urethritis (discharge from urethra, painful urination, or increased urinary frequency)
• Infertility 
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Painful sex (dyspareunia)
• Bleeding between periods
• Ectopic pregnancies
• The continued spread of chlamydia

If a woman develops chlamydia in pregnancy, it can cause severe complications including:

• Premature rupture of membranes
• Pre-term delivery
• Low birth weight
• Eye infections in newborns
• Lung infections in newborns

Another issue with women who have chlamydia in pregnancy is that being infected makes you more susceptible to having other STIs, such as gonorrhea or HIV.

Is it possible to pass chlamydia to your baby?

When thinking about pregnancy and chlamydia, you may be wondering if your baby can get infected. The answer is yes, it is possible to infect your baby if you do not get proper treatment for chlamydia in pregnancy. 

Chlamydia during pregnancy can infect newborn babies during vaginal delivery as they pass through the birth canal, and some common health concerns for the baby are eye and lung infections. 

If you have chlamydia during early pregnancy but are treated for it, there is a good chance that your infection will clear up before your baby is born. If the infection is gone during delivery, it cannot pass on to the baby. The treatment for chlamydia in pregnancy and follow-up screenings to ensure your infection is cleared are very important.

Symptoms of chlamydia during pregnancy

There are some telltale signs that you have chlamydia in pregnancy. The symptoms of chlamydia are the same whether you are pregnant or not.  

If you are pregnant and think you might have chlamydia, look for these common signs:

• A burning sensation during urination
• Yellow or green discharge from the vaginal area
• Low back pain and abdominal pain
• Pain during sex

How is chlamydia during pregnancy diagnosed?

According to the CDC and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), it’s recommended that all pregnant women younger than 25 years of age and older women with increased risk of chlamydia infection be screened for chlamydia during their first prenatal visit and then rescreened in the third trimester. For pregnant women with a positive result on screening, a test of cure should be performed to ensure clearance of the infection. This test is typically performed a week or two after completion of antibiotic treatment. Nucleic acid amplification tests are the most sensitive and specific tests for detecting chlamydial infections and have become the standard diagnostic and screening test.

Chlamydia treatment during pregnancy

You may be wondering what the treatment for chlamydia during pregnancy is. Chlamydia infection is always treated with antibiotics whether you are pregnant or not. But the choice of antibiotics may be different. Your doctor will prescribe you a single dose antibiotic or a 7-day course of antibiotics and will recommend a test of cure 1–2 weeks after the completion of treatment. Keep in mind that if you have chlamydia during pregnancy and you are given a round of antibiotics, you need to get a test of cure and a rescreening in the third trimester. The chances of reinfection are common with this STI. You may need another treatment for chlamydia in pregnancy if you are reinfected.

Ways to prevent chlamydia during pregnancy

There are ways to check if you have chlamydia during early pregnancy and ways to treat and cure the infection, but how do you prevent it in the first place?

There are only two foolproof ways to avoid getting infected with chlamydia in pregnancy:

• Refrain from sexual contact of any kind
• Remain in a monogamous relationship where both partners test negative for STIs

Condoms do help somewhat, but they only prevent the spread of chlamydia during intercourse.

The takeaway

Chlamydia during early pregnancy can be a scary topic to think about, but it’s important. 

The risks associated with chlamydia may not seem too severe, considering that many people don’t even know they have it, but it can develop into dangerous health complications, including infertility. A major risk of chlamydia during pregnancy is passing the infection to the baby. Left untreated, a chlamydia infection during pregnancy can cause premature rupture of membranes, preterm birth, and low birth weight, which have their own risks for the health of the baby.

Luckily, chlamydia is easy to test for and to treat. If you are considering pregnancy or are already pregnant, talk to your doctor about getting screened for chlamydia. The test is simple; the treatment is quick and safe, and you’ll be ensuring a healthy pregnancy for your newborn.

Chlamydia - KVD №2

What is chlamydia?

Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI). The disease is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis (Chlamydia trachomatis), which affects the female genital area and is the cause of non-gonococcal urethritis in men. Manifestations of chlamydia are usually minor or absent, but serious complications develop. Complications can cause irreparable damage to the body, including infertility - all this proceeds very secretly.

Chlamydia also causes penile discharge in infected men.

Chlamydia transmission routes

Chlamydia can be transmitted through:

• vaginal or anal contact with an infected partner;
• less common with oral sex;
• use of sex toys with an infected partner;
• infection of a newborn during childbirth from a sick mother.

Absolutely all sexually active people can get chlamydia. The greater the number of sexual partners, the greater the risk of infection. The risk of infection is especially high in girls, because their cervix is ​​not fully formed. About 75% of new cases occur in women under 25 years of age. By the age of 30, approximately 50% of sexually active women have had chlamydia. In sexually active men, the risk of infection is highest between the ages of 20 and 24.

You cannot get chlamydia through kisses, hugs, dishes, baths, towels.

Manifestations of chlamydia

Chlamydia is very secretive. About 75% of infected women and 50% of infected men are asymptomatic. If manifestations of the disease develop, then this occurs approximately 1 to 3 weeks after infection.

In women, chlamydia first affects the cervix and urethra (urinary canal).

Manifestations:

• unusual vaginal discharge;
• pain or discomfort when urinating;

If the infection penetrates to the appendages, manifestations are possible:

• pain in the lower abdomen;
• pain in the lumbar region;
• nausea;
• slight increase in temperature;
• pain during intercourse or bleeding after it;
• bleeding between periods.

Symptoms in men:

• clear or cloudy discharge from the penis;
• pain or discomfort when urinating;
• there may be burning and itching in the area of ​​the outlet of the urethra;
• rarely pain and/or swelling of the testicles.

Men or women who have anal sex with an infected partner can infect the rectum, resulting in inflammation, pain, discharge, or bleeding from the rectum.

Chlamydia can cause sore throat (pharyngitis) in men and women who have oral contact with an infected partner.

What complications can develop if chlamydia is not treated?

If the disease is not treated, serious short-term and persistent complications develop. Like the disease itself, complications often occur insidiously.

In women with untreated chlamydia, infection can spread from the urethra to the fallopian tubes (the tubes that carry the egg from the ovaries to the uterus) - this causes (in 40% of cases) the development of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID causes permanent damage to the fallopian tubes, uterus, and surrounding tissues. Chronic pelvic pain, infertility and ectopic pregnancy are the result of PID.

Women with chlamydia are more susceptible to HIV infection, the risk increases by almost 5 times.

To prevent serious consequences of chlamydia, annual chlamydia screening is required for all sexually active women 25 years of age and younger. An annual examination is necessary for women over 25 who are at risk (new sexual partner, multiple sexual partners). All pregnant women should be screened for chlamydia.

Complications of chlamydia are rare in men. The infection sometimes extends to the epididymis and causes pain, fever, and, rarely, male infertility (sterility).

Rarely, chlamydial infection can cause inflammation of the joints in combination with skin lesions, inflammation of the eyes and urinary tract - this is the so-called Reiter's syndrome.

The effect of chlamydia on a pregnant woman and her child

Chlamydia in pregnant women increases the risk of miscarriage, premature detachment of the placenta. Newborns from infected mothers can get eye and lung infections. A lung infection (pneumonia) can be fatal to a newborn.

Diagnosis of chlamydia

Diagnosis includes observation of the patient's clinical symptoms, testing for chlamydia smears from the cervix, scraping from the urinary canal, the first morning urine. Most often, the study is carried out by PCR (polymerase chain reaction). Swabs and scrapings may cause minor discomfort.

In addition, a blood test by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) for the presence of immunity to chlamydia is carried out, this auxiliary test often helps to establish an accurate diagnosis.

Treatment of chlamydia

Treatment of chlamydia is with oral antibiotics. To prevent re-infection, all sexual partners must be found, examined and treated. Patients with chlamydia should refrain from unprotected sex during treatment, otherwise it is possible to re-infect the sexual partner. Unfortunately, after successful treatment, re-infection with chlamydia is possible, since a strong immunity to this microorganism does not develop. Repeated infection of women with chlamydia leads to a significant increase in the risk of serious complications, including infertility. A re-examination is carried out 4 weeks after treatment.

Prevention of chlamydia

The best way to prevent sexually transmitted infections is through long-term sexual contact with one healthy sexual partner. Latex male condoms, when used correctly, drastically reduce the risk of transmission.

Annual chlamydia screening required for all sexually active women 25 years of age and younger. An annual examination is also necessary for women over 25 who are at risk (new sexual partner, multiple sexual partners). All pregnant women should be screened for chlamydia.

Any manifestations, such as pain or discomfort when urinating, unusual rash, discharge are a signal to stop sexual intercourse and immediately examine in a specialized clinic - KVD. If the patient is found to have chlamydia (or any other STI), he must inform his sexual partners so that they also undergo a full examination and appropriate treatment. This will reduce the risk of developing serious complications and prevent the possibility of re-infection.

Patients with chlamydia should refrain from unprotected sex during treatment, otherwise the sexual partner may be re-infected.

Causes of Chlamydia - A Healthy Family

Chlamydia is a group of related bacterial infectious diseases whose causative agents are parasites that live in the human cell. They penetrate inside and use the cell as a kind of incubator: several microcolonies of chlamydia can be located in one cell at the same time.

The causative agent of common urogenital chlamydia is cocci-like, gram-negative intracellular microorganisms. The pathogenicity of chlamydia is completely lost when heated for 10 minutes at 60 C. At the same time, these microorganisms are able to remain viable for several years at temperatures from -50 to -70 C.

Chlamydia is one of the most common diseases in the world sexually transmitted. The detection of chlamydia in the human body indicates the course of the infectious process, and the absence of clinical symptoms of the disease indicates only a temporary balance between the parasite and the host under conditions that limit the reproduction of chlamydia, but do not prevent it.

Infection with chlamydia usually occurs through sexual contact and household contact, as well as from mother to child - a high frequency of infection with chlamydia in newborns has been established when they pass through an infected birth canal. With this disease in the body, the nasopharynx, lungs, genitourinary system, and eyes are affected. If sexual intercourse was not protected by a condom, then you can get infected from a sick person with a probability of about 50%.

Urogenital chlamydia is often asymptomatic and has manifestations of inflammatory diseases:

• urethritis;
• prostatitis;
• cystitis;
• vulvovaginitis;
• cervicitis;
• erosion;
• endometritis and is detected only by special diagnostic methods, including PCR (polymerase chain reaction).

In some cases, symptoms such as weakness and a slight increase in temperature are also observed.

To date, physicians do not have reliable data on acquired immunity to urogenital chlamydial infection or on the occurrence of effective immunity after treatment, i. e. chlamydia can be infected again and again.

Causes of chlamydia in women

The main causes of chlamydia in women include non-use of a condom during casual sexual intercourse, as well as non-compliance with hygiene standards in fitness clubs, saunas, swimming pools and in any places of recreation where there are all conditions for the spread of chlamydia infections.

The lesion begins with the vagina, cervix, then the transition to the uterus itself is possible, then the infection can spread through the fallopian tubes to the ovaries and peritoneum. There are cases of infection of the rectum through the cervix.

In pregnant women, chlamydia can cause miscarriage, premature birth, premature birth and miscarriage.

Chlamydial infection has also been linked to precancerous lesions of the cervix.

Treatment for chlamydia should be supervised by a physician and lasts three weeks or more. It is essential that all existing sexual partners of a woman be treated at the same time, even if they do not have clinical manifestations of the disease.

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