Can You Die From Chlamydia If Left untreated?
Last updated on July 27th, 2018 at 05:18 pm
Question — Can you die from chlamydia?
Chlamydia is a widely known sexually transmitted infection that can affect men and women after unsafe sexual intercourse. Though death from chlamydia is rare; it may happen in some infected persons if left untreated.
Untreated chlamydia, either showing symptoms or not, may result in severe health problems. In most males and females who have chlamydia, symptoms and signs may not show up. This makes it difficult to prevent long-term problems of the infection.
The World Health Organisation recommend men and women under age of twenty-five get tested for sexually transmitted diseases yearly. This is because chlamydia and other STDs can cause infertility and other complications in the long term.
The genitals are not the only parts of the body that can be affected. Chlamydia also affects the oral cavity, anus, Fallopian tubes and the vagina.
How to catch chlamydia
Commonest route of transmission are:
- Anal sex without use of condom
- Oral sex without protection
- Unprotected vaginal intercourse
- Coming in contact with seminal or vaginal fluid of an infected partner
- Unsafe and unhygienic sharing of toys while making love
What are symptoms of chlamydia in men and women?
Chlamydia symptoms in men and women are only present in a handful of infected people. Though infected, you may not have any symptoms. This can be deceptive because chlamydia long term effects like infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease can still occur if you do not have symptoms.
In men, common symptoms are abnormal penile clear, watery, cloud-like discharge with a burning sensation during urination.
Other symptoms in men are
Epididymitis – that occurs when chlamydia affects the testes resulting in increased size of the testes and pain. Fever, rectal discharge, and joint pain may occur in some men. However, it is not always present.
In women, Chlamydia trachomatis infection can affect the vagina resulting in an abnormal greenish-yellow vaginal discharge that may be foul smelling with itching and severe pain during intercourse.
Other symptoms in women are
- Vulva sore and pain
- Burning urination pain due to urethral inflammation
- Fever and low abdomen pain
- Spotting between period
- Easy bleeding after sexual intercourse or examination from your doctors
- Recurrent loss of pregnancy or finding it very hard to conceive
Can you die from chlamydia if not treated?
According to this study, about 200 people were killed from infections in 2015 which include chlamydia.
However, the chances you could die from chlamydia is very slim.
Chlamydia may cause death through infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, pelvic abscess, chronic abdominal pain and increased chance of catching HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Pelvic inflammatory disease, which occurs if chlamydia affects your tubes, uterus, and abdomen, can result in life-threatening ectopic pregnancy and pus in your abdomen.
An ectopic pregnancy occurs after a tubal surgery or disruption of inner lining covering the Fallopian tube due to infections. This may cause severe bleeding and death if not urgently treated.
Though chlamydia can easily be treated and cured, any damage from the infection is hardly reversed after treatment.
Can Men die from chlamydia infections?
Yes, it’s possible a man can get chlamydia with abnormal watery discharge, swollen testes, and infertility; However, the chances of death is very slim.
How can I test and treat chlamydia infections?
With all the scare about chlamydia death that rarely occurs, it can be treated and cured. You can easily check from the comfort of your home by purchasing chlamydia kit that uses urine samples.
If you have mouth symptoms of chlamydia or anal discharge, you should let your doctor have a culture that takes about 3 to 7 days.
If positive, chlamydia can be treated with erythromycin and azithromycin.
