Symptoms of Chlamydia infection

The fact is that Chlamydia may be very difficult to detect because early the infection often causes few or no signs and symptoms that might alert a person to see a doctor.
When signs or symptoms do occur, they usually start one to three weeks after the  exposure to Chlamydia.

Women

• Inter-menstrual or bleeding after intercourse
• Lower abdominal pain
• Mucopurulent cervical or vaginal discharge
• Cervical motion tenderness
• Adnexal tenderness
• Lower abdominal tenderness
•  Upper right quadrant abdominal tenderness
• Mucopurulent rectal discharge
• Fever
• No symptoms in 80%

Men

• Unilateral pain and swelling of the scrotum
• Fever
• Testicular pain
• Mucopurulent urethral discharge
• Unilateral epididymis tenderness and swelling
• Mucopurulent rectal discharge
• Painful urination
• Asymptomatic in 50%

Neonates

• Injected conjunctivae
• Mucopurulent discharge from eyes
• Bilateral involvement of the eyes

High-risk groups

A person is in a high-risk group if he or she:

• Has multiple sexual partners
• Doesn't use a condom during sex
• Has other sexually transmitted diseases
• Has a sexual partner who has had a sexually transmitted disease

Diagnosis of chlamydia infection

There are different laboratory tests which can diagnose chlamydia. Some are performed on urine; other tests require that a specimen be collected from a site such as the penis or cervix. An ultrasound may also be performed to look for tubo-ovarian abscess.

The two most common tests are:

A culture swab
This procedure is rather simple. The octor usually takes a culture swab of the discharge from woman’s cervix. This can be done at the same time the doctor does a routine Pap test. For men, it is a bit more unpleasant because doctor may insert a slim swab into the end of penis to get a sample from the urethra.
 
A urine test
A sample of patient’s urine analyzed in the laboratory may indicate the presence of this infection.

The price
Unfortunately, the new tests are twice as expensive as the old ones.