Chlamydia is one of the sexually transmitted diseases; the Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria is responsible for Chlamydia disease. Chlamydia does not discriminate; it can affect both men and women; however, where it infects in the human body differs in gender. Men can be affected in the rectum, inside the penis (urethra), or the throat and women can be affected in the cervix, rectum as well as the throat.

Furthermore, you can be affected by Chlamydia during anal, oral, or vaginal sex with an already Chlamydia-infected person. In addition, a pregnant woman passes the disease to her child during childbirth.
Note that once treated, does not mean you are immune to the disease forever, you can get re-infected if you have unprotected sex with someone who has Chlamydia infection.

Who is at risk of contracting Chlamydia?
Anyone who has unprotected sex irrespective of the age bracket can get infected by the sexually transmitted disease. However, it is more prominent in young people, especially young women. Someone who has unprotected sex frequently and with multiple partners is at high risk of getting Chlamydia. Others with a higher risk of contracting Chlamydia includes:
• Sexually active women 25 and younger
• Older women who have new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has a sexually transmitted disease
• Men who have sex with men (MSM)

What are the symptoms of Chlamydia?
One of the worse things about Chlamydia is that it does not usually cause any symptoms; an infected person may not know he or she has the disease and can unknowingly pass the disease to someone else. Nonetheless, some people experience symptoms of Chlamydia after several weeks of unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner.

Symptoms of Chlamydia in men
• Burning sensation when urinating
• Pain and swelling in a single or both testicles
• Discharge from the penis
• Burning or itching around the opening area of the penis
• Rectal pain, discharge, and/or bleeding if the rectum in both genders is infected

Symptoms of Chlamydia in women
• Burning sensation during urination
• Painful sexual intercourse
• Abnormal vaginal discharge that may have a strong smell
• It may also cause lower abdominal pain, nausea, or fever as the infection spreads

What is the diagnostic of Chlamydia?
Chlamydia can be diagnosed with the help of laboratory tests; the health care provider may need a sample of your urine. Moreover, the health care provider sometimes use or ask the women to use a cotton swab to get a sample from the vagina to test for Chlamydia.

Who should go for a Chlamydia test?
Basically, it is appropriate for everyone to do a routine medical checkup especially when you are sexually active for a long time, have a partner who has a sexually transmitted disease (STD). also, pregnant women should get a test when they go to their first prenatal visit. People at high risk of Chlamydia should get checked for Chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases every year.

What are the possible complications of Chlamydia in women?
Chlamydia if left untreated can spread to the uterus and fallopian tubes, which cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Pelvic inflammatory disease can permanently damage the reproductive system. It can also lead to long-term pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, and infertility. Furthermore, women who have had Chlamydia infections more than once are at higher risk of severe reproductive health complications.

What are the possible complications of Chlamydia in men?
Unlike women, men do not have health problems from Chlamydia often, but it can sometimes infect the tube that carries sperm (epididymis), which can cause fever, pain, and rarely infertility.

However, men and women can develop reactive arthritis; a type of arthritis that happens as a “reaction” to an infection in the body. Babies born to infected mothers can get pneumonia, and eye infections from Chlamydia. It can also cause a baby to be born prematurely. Chlamydia can increase the risk of having HIV/AIDS

Chlamydia can be cured using antibiotics; a Chlamydia patient may get a one-time dose of the antibiotics or take medicine every day for seven days. However, antibiotics cannot fix any permanent damage that the disease has caused.

It is advisable to avoid sex until the infection is cleared up to prevent spreading the disease to your partner. Also, you should wait seven days after taking a one-time dose of antibiotics before having sex again. And if you are taking medicine every day for the next seven days, you need to steer clear from sex until you complete the treatment.

Note: It is common to get the infection again, that is why you should go for a test again three months after treatment. Also, correct usage of condoms can reduce the risk of having Chlamydia, but it cannot eliminate the possibilities of having or spreading the disease; the sure way to prevent the disease is to avoid anal, oral, or vaginal sex.

Encourage Yourself In the Lord:

This is my advice to you Beloved, it is better to resist the urge to be sexual if you are not married, number 1. Secondly, if you are in a relationship/marriage and you have contracted Chlamydia than by all means seek the necessary medical help that is needed immediately.

We must be slow to have intercourse so freely, while taking into consideration our health at all times. There is absolutely no reason why you should rush to be intimate. Take care of your body, it’s the only one you have. Think more highly of yourself! You are worth more than you will ever know. Never allow anyone to force or persuade you to do anything you don’t want to do, and it wouldn’t hurt if you and your soon to be partner get tested prior to intimacy.