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Long Term Effects Of Chlamydia In Men And Women

By: Author Dr Akatakpo Dunn, MBBS, PG Dip Ultrasound, Prof Dip O&G (RCPI) Medical Director & Lead Obstetrician/Ultrasonologist, Verah Clinic & Maternity

Posted on Last updated:

Long term effects of chlamydia in men and women are due to untreated or poorly treated chlamydia infection.

Chlamydia is mostly a sexually transmitted infection and it’s caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis. It can affect the mouth, vagina, urethra in both men and women. Many men and women may be asymptomatic to the infection. However, they could have long term effects of chlamydia if left untreated or poorly treated. 

It is recommended that both males and females, especially pregnant women, get tested for chlamydia. If you are below 25 years and sexually active, guidelines like the CDC chlamydia screening recommendations and USPSTF recommend chlamydia testing at least once a year.

Worldwide, chlamydia infection affects about 2.7 percent of men and more than 4 percent of women, according to estimates from WHO.

How can you get chlamydia?

Chlamydia is sexually transmitted and caused by the bacteria chlamydia trachomatis. If you practice unsafe sexual intercourse, you have a high chance to catch chlamydia.

You can get chlamydia by

  • Having unprotected vaginal sexual intercourse with an infected partner.

  • Sharing toys with an infected person during intercourse

  • Oral intercourse

  • Anal unprotected sexual exposure

  • Contact with infected fluid during intercourse

  • Hand to eye transmission with red eyes (chlamydial conjunctivitis) in people with chlamydia

  • Chlamydia is not usually caught from contaminated towels or toilet seats; it spreads mainly through sexual contact.

What are the symptoms of chlamydia in men

High body temperature

High body temperature or fever is a sign of chlamydia. Other sexually transmitted disease, especially gonorrhea infection, may mimic symptoms of chlamydia.

You should inform your doctor to rule out other causes of fever.

Watery cloudy penile discharge

If you have cloudy or watery fluid from your urethra, it could be chlamydia.

Painful urination

Are you finding it difficult to urinate? Do you have pain while urinating? Chlamydia causes urethritis, which is inflammation of the urethra. This can cause severe pain and discomfort while voiding.

Swollen testes

If you have a swollen testes after weeks of unprotected intercourse, then it could be chlamydia infection spreading down to the epididymis.

What are the symptoms of chlamydia in women?

Low abdomen pain

Low abdomen pain with abnormal discharge can be due to chlamydia infection. You should let your doctor know if you’re having abdominal pain after intercourse some weeks or months ago.

Fever

Fever may or may not be present if you have chlamydia

Abnormal vaginal discharge

Is your discharge greenish or yellowish in color? Are you bleeding after intercourse or on contact with your vagina or cervix? Chlamydia infections can cause purulent discharge with contact bleeding. You should get tested to confirm if you have the infection.

Painful urination and bleeding after intercourse

If you have pains while having intercourse, post coital bleeding and pain while urinating, it could be a sexually transmitted infection.

Long term effects of chlamydia in men

Infertility

Are you finding difficult to make your partner conceive? Any abnormal whitish or cloudy discharge with testicular pain?

If you have untreated chlamydia infection for a long time, it could affect your sperm and reproductive tract. Chlamydia can cause epididymitis and make sperm less motile with abnormal forms. Early testing and treatment is important to prevent infertility.

Prostatitis

Though not always common, chlamydia can cause inflammation of the prostate gland with symptoms like

  • Pain while passing urine

  • Pain during intercourse

Other side effects of chlamydia in men are

  • Eye infection (conjunctivitis or uveitis) that can affect vision

  • Joint pain (reactive arthritis)

Long term effects of chlamydia in women

In women, untreated chlamydia infection may cause any of the following

Pelvic inflammatory disease(PID)

Pelvic inflammation disease can occur from untreated chlamydia infections. It is due to upward spread of chlamydia infection thereby affecting the Fallopian tubes, uterus and abdomen.

Other causes of PID are Gonorrhea, bacteria from Bacteria vaginosis and Trichomonas infection.

Symptoms of PID include

  • Severe low abdomen pain

  • Abdominal abscess due to severe infection

  • Fallopian tube scaring with fertility problems

  • High body temperature

  • Abnormal green vaginal discharge

  • Difficulty getting pregnant

What to do?

You should inform your doctor ASAP if you have any of these PID symptoms. Early treatment helps prevent long term damage, as explained in CDC PID guidelines.

Read more: Pelvic inflammatory disease symptoms and cure

Infertility

PID may affect the Fallopian tubes in women causing scaring or disruption of ciliary cells. This scarring of the Fallopian tube may result to obstruction. If sperm cannot pass through the Fallopian tube, then its very unlikely you can get pregnant.

If you’ve had intercourse without protection and you’re having difficulty conceiving, you should inform your doctor. Though sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia can be treated and cured, damage cause by long term infection may not be reversed.

You should inform your doctor ASAP.

Ectopic pregnancy

Due to scaring of the Fallopian tubes and destruction of cilliary cells, caused by long term chlamydia infection, it can prevent fertilized ovum from being transported back to the uterus for implantation.

For pregnancy to occur, sperm fertilizes egg released by the ovary. This usually occurs in the Fallopian tube, which is a part of the uterus.

After fertilization, this egg is pushed back to the uterus for implantation due to the ciliary cell movement within the lumen of the tube.

During untreated chlamydia infection, these ciliary cells are destroyed resulting to implantation outside the uterus. This is called ectopic pregnancy.

Symptoms of ectopic pregnancy are

  • Signs of pregnancy like fatigue, nausea, breast swelling and pain

  • Low abdomen pain that is very severe

  • Dizziness and fainting

What to do?

Inform your doctor ASAP. Ectopic pregnancy is an emergency.

Read More: Ectopic pregnancy causes and prevention

Miscarriage

Are you having recurrent miscarriages? Untreated chlamydia infection may be one possible factor, among many other causes.

Miscarriage is the sudden cessation of pregnancy with or without vaginal bleeding.

If you are planning of getting pregnant or in early pregnancy, you should get tested and treated for sexually transmitted infections.

Premature low birth weight babies

Chlamydia infection may cause pregnant women to have premature and low birth weight babies, especially if not treated in pregnancy.

Increased chance of contacting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections

How can chlamydia complications be prevented

  • Get tested early if pregnant to rule out infections

  • Ensure regular yearly testing for STDs if you are sexually active and under 25 or at high risk

  • Avoid unprotected intercourse

  • Get your partners tested very early and treated too

  • Reduce sexual partners

  • Use condoms consistently or totally abstain from intercourse

  • Ask your doctor about retesting. Many guidelines recommend a repeat test around 3 months after treatment to check for re-infection, and pregnant women may need a test of cure about 4 weeks after treatment, as noted by CDC chlamydia information.

Now its your turn. Let us know if you have any long term problems from untreated chlamydia infection.