is because the newborn is exposed to the mother's blood and other bodily fluids during birth.
Symptoms: During the early stages of chlamydia, most patients experience few or no symptoms of an infection. In general, symptoms usually develop one to three weeks after the bacterium has entered the body.
If patients develop the infection after vaginal sex, common symptoms include painful urination, vaginal or penile discharge, lower abdominal pain, painful sexual intercourse in women, and testicular pain in men.
If patients develop the infection after anal sex, rectal inflammation usually occurs. This inflammation typically causes pain and mucus discharge.
If patients touch their eyes after touching bodily secretions (e.g. semen or vaginal discharge) that are infected with chlamydia, they may develop an eye infection called pinkeye (conjunctivitis). Left untreated, pinkeye may lead to permanent blindness.
Newborns who contract chlamydia during childbirth usually develop pneumonia and/or severe eye infections, which may lead to blindness.
Complications: Patients infected with chlamydia are more vulnerable to other STDs, including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), gonorrhea, and syphilis, if they are exposed to them. Therefore, patients who test positive for chlamydia are often tested for other STDs.
Females with untreated chlamydia may develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This is an infection of the fallopian tubes, uterus, and cervix. If left untreated, PID may cause permanent damage to the reproductive tract, which may lead to infertility. It may also lead to long-term pelvic pain.
Males with untreated chlamydia may develop a condition called epididymitis. This condition is characterized by inflammation of the tubes near the testicles that carry semen. Symptoms may include fever, scrotal pain, and swelling.
The infection may also spread to the prostate gland in males, causing inflammation (prostatitis). Symptoms of prostatitis may include pain during or after sex, fever, painful urination, and lower back pain.
Diagnosis: Patients should talk to their healthcare providers to determine how often they should be tested for chlamydia. Patients who have symptoms of chlamydia or suspect that they may have been exposed to chlamydia should be tested. The CDC recommends that all pregnant women are screened for chlamydia during the first prenatal examination and possibly later on in the pregnancy.
The standard diagnostic test for chlamydia is a culture swab. For females, the healthcare provider may swab the discharge from the cervix. For males, the healthcare provider inserts a thin swab into the tip of the penis to retrieve a sample of fluid from the urethra. In some cases, the healthcare provider may swab the anus. The sample is then rubbed on a petri dish. If the patient has chlamydia, Chlamydia trachomatis will grow on the petri dish.
A urine analysis may also be performed. A sample of the patient's urine is analyzed in a laboratory for the presence of the disease-causing bacteria.
Treatment: Chlamydia is curable. Patients take prescription antibiotics, such as azithromycin (Zithromax®), doxycycline, or erythromycin (ERYC® or Ery-Tab®), by mouth. Treatment may last up to 10 days. Patients should take their medications exactly as prescribed. Even if symptoms go away, medications should not be stopped early because the bacteria may still be present in the body.
The patient's sexual partner(s) will also require treatment, even if they do not have symptoms of the infection. Otherwise, the patient may become re-infected with chlamydia.
Overview: Genital herpes, also called herpes simplex type 2 (HHV-2), is an incurable viral infection that is characterized by painful sores on the genitals.
Genital herpes can only be contracted through direct sexual contact, including genital-to-genital, mouth-to-genital, or hand-to-genital contact with an infected partner. Individuals cannot contract the virus through kissing. Occasionally, oral-genital contact can spread oral herpes to the genitals (and vice versa). Individuals with active 