What is Chlamydia?
Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STI) in the UK, with up to one in ten sexually active young people affected. Chlamydia is usually passed from person to person through condomless vaginal, oral or anal sex. It can also be passed on from contact with a partner’s genitals, even if there is no penetration or ejaculation. Rarely it can be transmitted by infected semen or vaginal fluid coming into contact with your eye and sometimes from sharing sex toys.
How does it affect you?
Up to 80% of women and 50% of men will experience no symptoms from chlamydia. In women who do have symptoms, these may include a change in vaginal discharge, pain on urinating, pelvic pain or pain during sex, and bleeding in between periods or after sex. In men with symptoms these may include a penile discharge, pain on urinating or discomfort at the tip or down the shaft of the penis and occasionally testicular swelling or pain.
If left untreated, chlamydia can cause serious complications such as reduced fertility, ectopic pregnancy, chronic pain and arthritis.
A positive rectal chlamydia test, can sometimes indicate infection with a different type of chlamydia called Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV). This is more common amongst gay or bisexual men who should consider going to a clinic if they test positive for rectal chlamydia using SHL. At the clinic they may be tested for LGV and possibly treated for LGV too.
Diagnosis
Chlamydia can be diagnosed from a urine sample (in men) or swab taken from the female vagina. Sometimes additional swabs from the throat or anus are taken.
If you have no symptoms and just want a sexual health check-up, you may want to wait up to two weeks after the last sexual contact with your partner before performing the test. This is because our tests may not reliably detect very early infection, and testing too early (within two weeks) after a sexual risk may give you false reassurance (i.e. your chlamydia test result may be negative when you have actually acquired it). If you have symptoms though its best to test as soon as you can even if you your last sexual contact was very recent.
Free Chlamydia Test Kit
Get a free STI test kit delivered to your door. Take a self sample and return via freepost. Access your results online within a week. SHL.UK offers NHS funded home test kits for London.
Treatment
Chlamydia treatment has a success rate of 95% or more and typically involves a week long course of an antibiotic. Some individuals can develop complications from chlamydia such as epididymo-orchitis (painful testicles) or pelvic inflammatory disease (pelvic pain in women). In these circumstances it is important you attend clinic for assessment, examination and may be given a longer course of antibiotics.
If you test positive for chlamydia and haven’t developed symptoms suggestive of complicated chlamydia, and the rest of your STI screen is negative you will be offered the opportunity to receive chlamydia treatment online – where you can choose whether we post the medication to your home or collect it at a local pharmacy. Otherwise you can attend a sexual health clinic for treatment.
After you have begun your course of chlamydia treatment, any symptoms should start to improve within a few days and resolve completely within 2–4 weeks. If any symptoms persist, or you start to develop testicular pain, pelvic pain or pain during sex, it is important you attend clinic as further treatment or investigations may be necessary.
Contacting partners
If you are diagnosed with chlamydia you should inform your recent sexual partner(s) and advise them to get tested. They can request a test via SHL and may also be eligible to receive treatment via SHL before their results are available (epidemiological treatment).
Informing, testing and treating partners is really important because it helps prevent you from becoming re-infected with chlamydia again and minimises onward transmission to other partners.
If you feel unable to inform previous sexual partners one of our Health Advisers will be able to notify them on your behalf without revealing your identity if you prefer.
Maintaining good sexual health and preventing re-infection
You should not have oral, anal or vaginal sex, for at least one week or during your course of chlamydia treatment if this is longer than seven days and also until your current partner completes their treatment and until both you and your partner’s symptoms have resolved. This is to avoid becoming re-infected and requiring further treatment.
If you have tested positive for chlamydia it is possible you may also have another STI. Therefore, it is advisable that you have had a full sexual health screen (including the blood tests for syphilis and HIV). To protect yourself use condoms and encourage your partner to test for STIs.
If you are under 25 and sexually active, it's recommended that you get tested for chlamydia every year or when you change sexual partner.
Under 25s who have chlamydia should consider re-testing three months after being treated because young adults are found to be at increased risk of acquiring chlamydia again.