In 2009, there were almost 216,000 people diagnosed with chlamydia in Britain’s GUM clinics. Countless others have acquired the infection, but they do not realise it.

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Since the Mid-1990’s new cases have been steadily increasing and it is now the most commonly diagnosed STI in the UK. Women aged under 25 who are sexually active have a 1 in 10 chance of getting Chlamydia and men aged between 20-30 are most at risk of being infected. Chlamydia often has no symptoms in both men and women so can go undiagnosed. Once Chlamydia is diagnosed it is treatable

Unfortunately, many people (particularly females) have no symptoms at all. Where symptoms do occur, they may include pain in passing urine and a discharge. They usually appear approximately 7 to 21 days after infection.

Chlamydia is passed on from one person to another during intimate sexual contact. You can catch chlamydia through:

1. having unprotected vaginal sex
2. having unprotected anal sex
3. having unprotected oral sex
4. having genital contact with an infected partner

Chlamydia can be passed from a mother to her baby during childbirth. Although no obvious symptoms are immediately apparent, the infection will often develop two weeks after birth, and can result in complications such as pneumonia.

Treatment

After being diagnosed with Chlamydia, the infection can usually be successfully treated using antibiotics. Research has shown that 80-90% of cases are cured with antibiotics. A retest after 3 months is advisable.

How is the test done?

A urine sample is usually taken if you are not showing symptoms and if you have symptoms then we advise a swab test.