Chlamydia is a common venereal disease in many countries. The infection is caused by a bacterium and is spread mainly through the slit joint or anal joint.
In order to receive treatment and prevent the spread of infection as early as possible, it is important that you test yourself if you suspect you have been infected, even if you do not get symptoms. The test is probably one week after you may have become infected.
Symptoms of chlamydia
Most people get no symptoms when they get chlamydia. Therefore, it is important that you test yourself if you have had sex without a condom with a new or temporary partner. The partner should also test himself.
You may have one or more of these symptoms if you have chlamydia:
- It stings when you pee.
- You have removals from the genital area or the urethra.
- You bleed between your periods.
You may also get sores in the scrotum or lower abdomen.
When and where should I seek care?
It is important that you seek care if you have had unprotected sex or have symptoms that are due to chlamydia so that you can be examined.
Contact a health center, or a skin and genital clinic, a so-called venereal clinic. They have different names in different places in the country, such as the sex reception, Sesame, the reception for sex and cohabitation, STD reception or STI reception.
You can also contact a youth reception. For the youth reception, you can go from being 12 or 13 years until you are between 20 and 25 years, it is different on different receptions.
Investigation and treatment of suspected or confirmed chlamydia is free.
What can I do to avoid getting chlamydia?
The best way to avoid getting chlamydia is to use a condom and lick of mouth when having sex with someone else.
Investigations
You can test yourself at reception or through a test that you order on the internet or buy at a pharmacy. Sampling on reception should always be chosen in the first place. Then you get to talk to healthcare professionals and the samples are taken properly. Sampling on reception is always free.
Chlamydia tests can work worse if the sample is taken during the days you have plenty of time.
If the test shows that you have chlamydia, you need treatment at a health center or a youth clinic. If the test shows that you have chlamydia, you must state who you have had sex within a connection with infection detection.
Chlamydia test on reception
You can book time at a reception to take a chlamydia test. Some receptions have drop-in times that you do not need to book.
When you come to the reception, you get to talk to a midwife, doctor or nurse. You are told about, and when and how you have had sex.
When performing a chlamydia test, you may submit one or more of the following tests:
- urine sample
- sample from the vagina, it is taken with the help of a cotton swab.
You may also need to take samples from the rectum, which is taken with the help of a cotton swab.
Here you can see which reception is close to you, when the reception is open and how to contact it.
Chlamydia test that you take yourself
You can do a chlamydia test yourself. You order or buy a test with tools and instructions on how to do it. Once you have taken the samples, you send them to a laboratory for analysis.
The tests that you can do yourself at home show only if you have chlamydia in the vagina or urethra. Taking antibiotics can make the test result not completely safe.
Order a free test via the internet
In most county councils you can log in and order a chlamydia test on the internet. To be able to order a test, you must be registered in a county or region that offers chlamydia tests via the Internet. You can order the test to a different address than the one you are writing to.
Buy a test at the pharmacy
There are chlamydia tests to buy at pharmacies but they are not free.
sample answer
The test response usually comes within a week. If the test shows that you have chlamydia, it is a safe result. You may need to retake the sample even if it is negative. You need to do this if you took the test before a week has passed since you last had sex.
If you have taken a chlamydia test that you have ordered via the internet or purchased from a pharmacy, you must contact reception for treatment and infection tracking calls if the test shows that you have chlamydia.
What does infection tracking mean?
Since chlamydia infects easily and can cause serious sequelae, it is included in the Infection Protection Act. Anyone who may have chlamydia must, therefore, submit chlamydia samples. If the test shows that you have chlamydia, you must tell who you had sex with for an infection tracker.
For example, it is useful if you can provide information on:
- when you had six recently
- name
- approximate age
- phone number
- where the person lives.
The person you have had sexual contact with cannot find out who has provided the information.
You can choose whether you first want to tell the person or people you have had sex with before the infection tracker hears. You can also let the infectious tracer provide the information. Those who need to come and test themselves are contacted with a letter or telephone call and informed that they must test themselves.
What does the Infection Protection Act say?
The Contingency Protection Act contains precautions to stop diseases such as chlamydia so that they do not spread.
- You must come back for a visit if the doctor says so.
- You must tell you that you have chlamydia or maybe have chlamydia if you have sex before the sampling and treatment is complete.
- You must use protection if you have sex before the sampling and treatment is complete.
If you have a precautionary rule that you think is wrong, you can contact the infection control doctor in your county council.
That’s how chlamydia gets infected
Chlamydia is spread especially when mucous membranes come into contact with each other, for example through intercourse without a condom, either abdominal intercourse or anal intercourse and sometimes in oral sex. Chlamydia can also spread during petting and sex toys. You may be infected with chlamydia several times.
Chlamydia may also be present in the pharynx. It is unclear how common it is with infection from the mouth to the genital organs. Therefore, it is safest to use a condom or lick of mouth even in oral sex if you have sex with someone else.
Chlamydia does not infect via handshakes, clothing, towels or toilets, as the bacterium does not survive outside the body.
You can pass the chlamydia infection to your eyes if you get infected vaginal secretions on your fingers. The eyes may start itching, burning or become runny and sticky. Usually, you get such an infection in one eye.
Treatment of Chlamydia
Chlamydia infections are treated with antibiotics containing doxycycline. You will receive other antibiotics if doxycycline is inappropriate for any reason. You take the antibiotic as tablets. Sometimes you may get side effects such as nausea and diarrhea.
You will recover from the chlamydia infection if you take the antibiotic properly.
If you have forgotten to take the antibiotic according to the instructions or if you have had sex with someone during treatment, you may need to pass a control test. This also applies if you have had diarrhea or vomiting or if you are pregnant. The procedures for control tests may vary from reception to reception.
You do not need to do a control test after treatment of chlamydia is completed if you have followed the doctor’s advice and taken the antibiotic properly.
All treatment for chlamydia is always free.
Avoid intercourse and oral sex during treatment
To avoid the spread of infection or the infection coming back, you should avoid slit, anal intercourse, and oral sex until the entire treatment is completed. If you still have sex, you must tell the person you have sex with that you have chlamydia and you must use protection.
If you have someone that you regularly have sex with, that person should test themselves and be done with their own treatment before having sex again.
Complications and sequelae
Untreated chlamydia infection can cause the fallopian tubes to become inflamed and so damaged that you can later have trouble getting pregnant if you do not treat a chlamydia infection.
The egg from the ovary can get stuck in the fallopian tube if the fallopian tubes are damaged by inflammation. Then the egg can either not be fertilized or cause an external pregnancy. Out-of-state pregnancy can be a very serious condition.
There is also a risk of sterility when infecting the bite particles.
What happens in the body?
Chlamydia infection is caused by a bacterium. The bacterium settles mainly in the mucous membranes of the vagina, uterus, and urethra. The bacterium can sometimes settle in the fallopian tubes, rectum, and bites.
From the genital area, the bacterium spreads along the mucous membranes of the genitals and the urethra.
Chlamydia and pregnancy
You can be treated even if you are pregnant and have chlamydia. It is also important that you submit a control sample one month after completion of treatment to see if you got rid of the infection.
The fetus can become infected and the baby can be born prematurely if you do not receive treatment. The child may also be infected at birth and get an eye infection or a lung infection caused by chlamydia.