Last Updated on July 29, 2021 by Nancy Carteron, MD, FACR
STI/STD Symptoms – Chlamydia Symptoms
Half of all people with penises who have chlamydia and 80% of people with vulvas/vaginas who have chlamydia have no symptoms at all. The result of this is that a huge number of infections remain undiagnosed and untreated.
It is important to understand that focusing on signs and symptoms is not very useful in determining if someone has chlamydia.
If you do get chlamydia symptoms, they may begin in as little as 5 to 10 days after contracting the infection or they may be so mild they are not noticed. Signs and symptoms can also show up many months later, or not until the infection spreads to other parts of the body.
Chlamydia bacteria commonly infects the cervix, rectum, or the urethra. Sometimes, it can infect the throat after performing oral sex. Infection also sometimes spreads to the eyes by touching an infected area and then touching the eye. In places where treatment is not available, these eye infections can be very serious and can cause blindness.
If chlamydia infects the throat, it may cause soreness.
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Chlamydia infecting the rectum often causes no symptoms. If there are symptoms, they may include:
- discharge from the rectum
- rectal pain
- mucous with stools
- painful bowel movements
- anal lesions
- redness in the anal area
In People with Vulvas/Vaginas
- A yellowish discharge from the cervix that may have a strong smell
- Bleeding during or after sex
- Bleeding or blood spotting from the vagina
- Change in periods, or more painful periods
- Heavy period or bleeding between periods (including people who are using hormonal contraception)
- Low-grade fever
- Pain in the abdominal, lower back, or lower stomach area
- Pain or a burning feeling while urinating
- Pain when you have sex
- Swelling inside the vagina or around the anus
- The urge to urinate more than usual
- Unusual vaginal discharge
In People with Penises
- Abnormal fluid from penis
- An itching feeling inside the penis. This may be a tingling or itch in the urethra; sometimes referred to as “urethral awareness”.
- Diarrhea
- Pain or a burning feeling while urinating
- Pain or swelling of the testicles
- Swelling around the anus
- White/cloudy and watery discharge from penis
- Chlamydia Briefs
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- STI/STD Symptoms
- Pictures of Chlamydia
- Think You Might Have an STD?
- STD Testing Centers
- List of All STDs
- Activities That Put You At Risk
- STIs/STDs in People with Penises
- STIs/STDs in People with Vulvas/Vaginas
References
- Symptoms
- Honkila, Minna, et al. “Symptoms, signs and long-term prognosis of vertically transmitted Chlamydia trachomatis infections.” The Pediatric infectious disease journal9 (2018): 930-933.
- Musil, Kate, et al. “Rectal chlamydia infection in women at high risk of chlamydia attending Canberra Sexual Health Centre.” International journal of STD & AIDS7 (2016): 526-530.
- Veličko, Inga, et al. “Sexual and testing behaviour associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection: a cohort study in an STI clinic in Sweden.” BMJ open8 (2016): e011312.
- Short, Renna, et al. “Prevalence of gonorrhea and Chlamydia infections among human immunodeficiency virus-infected men by anatomic site and presence or absence of symptoms.” Open forum infectious diseases. Vol. 2. No. suppl_1. Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2015.
- Andersson, Nirina, Jens Boman, and Elisabet Nylander. “Rectal chlamydia–should screening be recommended in women?.” International journal of STD & AIDS 28.5 (2017): 476-479.
- Testing
- Davies, Bethan, et al. “Risk of reproductive complications following chlamydia testing: a population-based retrospective cohort study in Denmark.” The Lancet Infectious Diseases9 (2016): 1057-1064.
- Naimer, Michelle S., et al. “The effect of changes in cervical cancer screening guidelines on chlamydia testing.” The Annals of Family Medicine4 (2017): 329-334.
- Price, Malcolm J., Paddy J. Horner, and A. E. Ades. “Risk of reproductive complications following chlamydia testing.” The Lancet Infectious Diseases11 (2016): 1223-1224.
- Sharman, Natasha, et al. “Chlamydia testing: reaching high-risk sexually active young people in the community.” (2016): 78-79.
- Woodhall, Sarah C., et al. “Is chlamydia screening and testing in Britain reaching young adults at risk of infection? Findings from the third National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal-3).” Sex Transm Infect3 (2016): 218-227.
- Treatment
- Foster, Rosalind, et al. “Does living outside of a major city impact on the timeliness of chlamydia treatment? A multicenter cross-sectional analysis.” Sexually transmitted diseases8 (2016): 506-512.
- Yoon, Jungwon, et al. “Does Nonmetropolitan Residence Impact Timely Chlamydia Treatment in Massachusetts?.” Sexually transmitted diseases 45.8 (2018): e52-e56.
- Wood, Helen, et al. “Barriers and facilitators of partner treatment of chlamydia: A qualitative investigation with prescribers and community pharmacists.” Pharmacy1 (2018): 17.
- Eaton, Susan Elizabeth. Integrating novel digital technology for the testing & treatment of chlamydia into mainstream sexual health services in England. Diss. University of Warwick, 2017.
- World Health Organization. “WHO guidelines for the treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis.” (2016).
- Prevention
- Yu, Hong, et al. “Subunit vaccines for the prevention of mucosal infection with Chlamydia trachomatis.” Expert review of vaccines8 (2016): 977-988.
- Estcourt, Claudia S., et al. “The eSexual Health Clinic system for management, prevention, and control of sexually transmitted infections: exploratory studies in people testing for Chlamydia trachomatis.” The lancet Public health4 (2017): e182-e190.
- Di Pietro, Marisa, et al. “Chlamydia pneumoniae and oxidative stress in cardiovascular disease: state of the art and prevention strategies.” International journal of molecular sciences1 (2015): 724-735.
- Naimer, Michelle S., et al. “The effect of changes in cervical cancer screening guidelines on chlamydia testing.” The Annals of Family Medicine4 (2017): 329-334.
- Jerlström, Charlotta, and Annsofie Adolfsson. “Prevention of Chlamydia Infections With Theater in School Sex Education.” The Journal of School Nursing (2018): 1059840518811912.
- Transmission
- Rönn, Minttu M., et al. “The use of mathematical models of chlamydia transmission to address public health policy questions: a systematic review.” Sexually transmitted diseases5 (2017): 278-283.
- van Wees, Daphne A., et al. “Double trouble: modelling the impact of low risk perception and high-risk sexual behaviour on chlamydia transmission.” Journal of The Royal Society Interface141 (2018): 20170847.
- Enns, Eva Andrea, et al. “Using Multiple Outcomes of Sexual Behavior to Provide Insights Into Chlamydia Transmission and the Effectiveness of Prevention Interventions in Adolescents.” Sexually transmitted diseases10 (2017): 619-626.
- Rönn, Minttu M., et al. “The Impact of Screening and Partner Notification on Chlamydia in the United States, 2000 to 2015: Evaluation of Epidemiological Trends Using a Pair-Formation Transmission Model.” (2019).
- Den Daas, C., Kretzschmar Me, and J. C. Heijne. “P3. 230 Double trouble: the impact of low risk perception and high risk sexual behaviour on chlamydia transmission.” (2017): A179-A179.
