Think you can't get Chlamydia? Based on what?

Every year, almost 4 million American teenagers get an STD.1,2 If you've had sex, you could be infected with one or more STDs, including chlamydia. Some STDs cause symptoms. Others don't. You could have one now and not even know it. Just because you don't know you're infected doesn't mean you're not being affected. Some STDs make you sick today and others cause problems later in life -- serious problems like cancer or infertility. So get your facts straight about CHLAMYDIA.

What is it? Chlamydia is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD).3

Who gets it? Both men and women -- particularly young men and women.

How you get it: From having sex with an infected person.

How will I know if I'm infected? Most infected people -- especially women -- don't have symptoms, so they can't tell.4 Even without symptoms, infected people can pass chlamydia to every person they have sex with. When people with chlamydia do have symptoms, the symptoms may include pain when going to the bathroom or a "discharge" coming from the penis or vagina.

How do you treat chlamydia? Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics. But if you don't know you're infected, you won't be looking for treatment. If you have had sex, see your doctor and get checked. Don't put it off. If treatment is delayed, infected women can get a pelvic inflammatory disease (a serious complication of chlamydia). PID causes problems now (abdominal pain) and problems later (difficulty getting pregnant or infertility).5

What can I do to avoid being infected with chlamydia? Abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only certain way to avoid being infected. If you haven't had sex, your chances of getting chlamydia are small. Already had sex? Get checked out -- and next time, get your facts straight.

References:

1 American Social Health Association. Sexually Transmitted Diseases in America: How Many Cases and at What Cost? Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation, 1998. Available at: http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/1445-std_rep.cfm. Accessed 2008 Aug 20.

2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000. Available at: http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/html/volume2/25stds.htm#_ednref28. Accessed 2008 Aug 20.

3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Profile: Chlamydia [surveillance data on the Internet; last modified 2007 Nov 13]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/chlamydia.htm. Accessed 2008 Apr 11. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5YM4ObWbx; cached 2008 Jun 5)

4 Korenromp EL, Sudaryo MK, de Vlas SJ, et al. What proportion of episodes of gonorrhoea and chlamydia becomes symptomatic? Int J STD AIDS. 2002;13(2):91-101.

5 Paavonen J, Westrom L, Eschenbach D. Pelvic inflammatory disease. In: Holmes KK, et al., eds. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 4th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2008:1017-1050.