Chlamydia
Hard to spell. Easy to catch
What is a Sexually Transmitted Disease?
- Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are infections generally acquired by sexual contact. The organisms that cause sexually transmitted diseases may pass from person to person in blood, semen, or vaginal and other bodily fluids.
- Some of these infections can also be transmitted nonsexually, such as from mother to infant during pregnancy or childbirth, or through blood transfusions or shared needles.
- It's possible to contract sexually transmitted diseases from people who seem perfectly healthy — people who, in fact, aren't even aware of being infected. Many of the infections transmitted through sex cause no symptoms, which is one of the reasons experts prefer the term "sexually transmitted infections" to "sexually transmitted diseases." The symptoms of several sexually transmitted infections are also easy to mistake for those of other conditions, so the correct diagnosis may be delayed.
- There are many different kinds of sexually transmitted diseases. This flyer would be detailing chlamydia, but some of the others are:
- Genital Warts
- Gonorrhea
- Hepatitis B
- HIV/AIDS
- Public Lice (Crabs)
- Syphilis
Get Yourself Tested
GYT
Be Safe
Protect Yourself
Safety First!
Don't sacrifice safety for momentary pleasure
What is Chlamydia?
Chlamydia Facts
- Chlamydia (klah MIH dee ah) is an infection caused by a kind of bacteria that is passed during sexual contact.
- Chlamydia is one of the most common STDs and is the leading cause of preventable infertility in the United States
- Chlamydia can infect the penis, vagina, cervix, anus, urethra eye and throat.
- About three million American women and men become infected with chlamydia every year.
- You may not know you have chlamydia because many people never develop the signs or symptoms, which may include genital pain and a discharge from the vagina or penis.
- Five times as common as gonorrhea
- More than 30 times as common as syphilis
Treatment
- Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. Some antibiotics can cure it in just one dose, while others may need to be used for seven days. If you’ve been treated, your partner(s) should get tested and/or treated, too. And you should wait seven days or until you and your partner(s) finish the antibiotics (whichever is longer) before having sex again. This is to make sure you don’t spread the infection.
Prevention
- As with all STIs, the most effective protection is to abstain from sexual activity or be monogamous with one long-term partner who has tested negative for Chlamydia. Using latex condoms or dental dams can help reduce the risk of contracting or spreading the infection.