Need To Know

Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. If taken exactly as directed, antibiotics can cure a chlamydia infection. The infection will not be cured if antibiotics are not taken as directed. Prompt treatment also stops the spread of the infection and reduces complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID).

Having a chlamydia infection that was cured does not protect you from a future infection. A new exposure to chlamydia will reinfect you, even if you were treated and cured.

Experts recommend that you notify all partners with whom you had sex in the 60 days since your symptoms or diagnosis; if you have not had sex in the last 60 days, contact your last sexual partner. This prevents reinfection. If your symptoms continue after treatment, you probably have been infected again. It does not mean the first treatment failed. If you have chlamydia, avoid all sexual contact or use condoms until you and your partner (or partners) have finished the full course of medication.

The time between exposure to chlamydia and the start of symptoms—the incubation period—may range from days to months. If symptoms appear, it is usually 1 to 3 weeks after sexual contact with an infected person.

Symptoms in women include:

Painful urination. Cloudy urine. Abnormal vaginal discharge. Abnormal vaginal bleeding with intercourse or between periods. Genital itching. Irregular menstrual bleeding. Lower abdominal pain. Fever and general tiredness. Swollen and painful glands at the opening of the vagina (Bartholin glands). Conjunctivitis. Symptoms in men include:

Painful urination or itching sensation with urination (often the first symptom). Cloudy urine. Watery or slimy discharge from the penis. Crusting on the tip of the penis. Tender anus or scrotum. Conjunctivitis.