Chlamydia

Generality

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection caused by a microorganism, Chlamydia trachomatis, transmitted either through vaginal, anal or oral sexual intercourse or via maternal-fetal route.

In adults, chlamydia generally involves rather mild symptomatic manifestations, mostly limited to some abnormal vaginal discharge or a sensation of discomfort and itching of the genitals.

Often the course is even asymptomatic, so much so that it goes unnoticed to the person who was affected. This characteristic led to the identification of chlamydia as a " silent sexual transmission infection ". Despite this, it should never be taken lightly, since in some cases it loses its characteristic "good nature" and becomes the cause of serious damage to the reproductive system.

Together with Trichomoniasis and Gonorrhea, with which it shares numerous clinical manifestations, chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world.

In most cases the infection affects sexually active women, with a peak incidence around 20 years.

Symptoms and risk factors

To learn more: Chlamydia symptoms

Often, the symptoms associated with chlamydial infection, which normally appear 7-12 days after having unprotected sex with an infected person, are poorly evident and include:

WOMAN	MAN
pain when urinating	pain when urinating
bloody leaks outside the cycle	urethral itching
pain during or after sexual intercourse	testicular discomfort (pain, swelling)
pain in the lower part of the abdomen	urethral leaks, sometimes visible only after squeezing the glans
abnormal vaginal discharge
If transmitted during anal intercourse, chlamydia can cause proctitis (rectal pain, anal spasms accompanied by urgent need to defecate, sometimes bleeding); in men it is frequently found among homosexual males, in women it can also be the consequence of a cervicitis.

RISK FACTORS

age between 16 and 24;
usual or recent change of sexual partner;
failure to use barrier methods of contraception;
history of other sexually transmitted diseases;
use of oral contraceptives (which often reduce the use of condoms, although this is important not only to avoid unwanted pregnancies, but also to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, including chlamydia).

Complications

If a woman develops disease, inflammation of the cervix (cervix) is her first stage. If left untreated, the infection can spread from the lower genital tract, the uterus, the fallopian tubes, the ovaries and other parts of the lower abdomen.

Chlamydia can therefore cause chronic damage to the tubes, sustained by a scarring that, when limited, can cause extra-uterine pregnancies, while when it is total it is accompanied by permanent sterility.

This fearsome complication is known as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

It should be emphasized that such alterations can arise even in the absence of particular symptoms, complicating the diagnosis. For this reason, if you have sex with people at risk, it is even more important to undergo regular tests for sexually transmitted diseases.

Vertical contagion during childbirth between mother and baby can lead to high probability of serious infections of the child's eyes, ears and lungs.

In men, neglected chlamydia can lead to inflammation of the testicles which, in addition to causing the aforementioned symptoms, seems to be involved in a greater risk of infertility.

In both men and women, Chlamydia trachomatis can sometimes cause the appearance of small red blotches in relief on the glans or, in women, on the vulva, in the vagina, on the uterine cervix or on the anal level. These lesions, single and generally asymptomatic, then undergo ulceration; therefore they regress spontaneously after a few days. Shortly, the infection becomes evident again, manifesting itself with the enlargement of the inguinal lymph nodes, which gradually become associated with each other, giving rise to painful masses dominated by purplish skin.

If untreated, the pathological picture, known as venereal lymphogranuloma, further worsens causing festering and purging of the purulent material, fever, extension of infection to various organs, fibrosis and consequent deformation of the genital area.

For the consequences of Chlamydia trachomatis eye infection, see the trachoma article.

Chlamydia - Video: Causes Symptoms Diagnosis Cures

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Diagnosis

If a chlamydia infection is suspected, it is advisable to contact a doctor as soon as possible, in order to be able to carry out an immediate control visit; in fact, only a timely and reliable diagnosis is able to prevent the appearance of the most severe complications. The test generally consists in simply taking a cervical, urethral, vaginal or urinary swab, which will then be analyzed in the laboratory. Currently, analysis techniques are available that, in addition to having sensitivity and specificity now close to 100%, allow results to be obtained in a very short time. These tests are based on modern gene amplification techniques (such as PCR, LCR and TMA) and are therefore able to directly detect the chlamydial genome.

Prevention

Despite being unpleasant to say, whenever you have sex with a new person it is as if you did it also with all the partners with whom you previously had unprotected relationships. Since Chlamydia trachomatis is transmitted sexually and can remain quiescent for long periods, it is good to avoid risky relationships, without ever forgetting that the use of condoms greatly reduces the risk of infection.

For prevention it would be advisable to have an annual screening for all sexually active women under the age of 25, for those who are not so young, but who frequently change sexual partners and all those who are pregnant.