Chlamydia is an infectious disease that is most often transmitted through sexual contact. The peculiarity of this disease is that it can proceed covertly. When chlamydia is detected, immediate treatment should be initiated.
Description of Chlamydia Disease
This disease can be caused by chlamydia trichomonas. This bacterium has a lot of features. She constantly seeks to spread, and also rarely causes an acute course of the disease.
The incubation period for chlamydia is 2-4 weeks. Most often, the infection is sexually transmitted. In rare cases, infection occurs through everyday objects, as well as from mother to child during childbirth. In the external environment, the bacterium can live for about 2 days.
In acute chlamydia, there are many unpleasant symptoms. Ignore them fail. If adequate therapy does not follow, the pathology will become chronic.
Chlamydia trachomatis
In some cases, the disease is caused by the chlamydia trachomatis bacterium. It has all the features that are inherent in the class of chlamydia (intracellular reproduction, resistance to antibiotic therapy). It can affect the urinary tract, causing inflammation.
During therapy, she is able to hibernate, disappearing for a while and stop bothering the person. With various stresses and reduced immunity, it again makes itself felt. It is necessary to select the correct treatment regimen to permanently get rid of the problem.
Ways of infection
Doctors say that the main route of chlamydia infection is sexual. In this case, the transfer of bacteria can occur both during vaginal and anal sex. In more rare cases, infection is made through the patient’s personal items.
Infection by household can:
- in public baths;
- at home when living with a sick person.
There is a chance of infection of the child when passing through the birth canal.
To prevent disease, it is enough to use contraceptives, try to avoid public baths and saunas (when you visit to comply with sanitary standards) and wash your hands thoroughly after the street.
Possible consequences
In women, the disease can be complicated. The most common consequence is the transition of the disease to the chronic form. Chlamydia can spread through the urogenital system, causing urethritis, then pelvic disease. Ultimately, a narrowing of the urethra appears.
Chlamydia in women may be complicated by the following diseases:
- inflammation of the fallopian tubes;
- lesion of the uterine lining.
All this can lead to the so-called adhesions (splicing of the walls of the uterus connective tissue). Adhesions can cause infertility.
It is worth noting that the greatest danger of the disease is for pregnant women. Because of chlamydia, pregnancy can go quite differently as planned. It may interrupt or fade. In childbirth, bacteria are likely to be passed on to the baby.
This will lead to serious health problems in the future. Chlamydia may cause conjunctivitis and otitis media in a newborn. In addition, formation problems with the cardiovascular and nervous systems may occur.
It is because of these dangerous complications that you need to consult a doctor as soon as possible and begin therapy. Otherwise, you can run into big problems.
Chronic form of chlamydia is difficult to treat. It is better to eliminate it at the earliest stage.
Chlamydia symptoms
Chlamydia can be both asymptomatic and acute. In the case of a mild course, the following symptoms may disturb the girl:
- low-grade fever 37 degrees;
- fatigue;
- weakness;
- slight redness and inflammation of the genitals.
With acute course occur:
- lower abdominal pain;
- temperature 38-39 degrees;
- inflammation of the urinary tract;
- severe redness;
- discharge from the genitals, having a whitish-yellow color.
In most cases, the disease occurs in a chronic form. Doctors say that about 70 percent of all patients come across it. This feature is inherent only to women.
It should be understood that not all symptoms will bother at the same time. If at least 2-3 of them are detected, this is a reason for an unscheduled examination. The most common symptom of chlamydia is redness at the site of infection.
Recognizing chlamydia at an early stage is difficult. Its manifestations are inherent in many other diseases. It can only be diagnosed with modern equipment.
Diagnostic features
Proper diagnosis of the disease is very important. Without this, it is impossible to find the right treatment regimen. It is necessary to determine exactly what chlamydia has caused the disease.
Diagnosis should be comprehensive. It is necessary to use several exact methods at once. The visual inspection should be carried out first. It must perform a gynecologist. Based on the results of the inspection, further diagnostic measures will be assigned.
How to take an analysis
Many girls are concerned about the question of how to pass the analysis. To get accurate results, you need to follow all the recommendations of the doctor. For different studies is required to adhere to different rules.
If we are talking about taking a scraping, then 2 days before this procedure you can not have sex and masturbation. Immediately 2 hours before the procedure can not go to the toilet. Scraping taken from the vagina and urethra.
In case of chlamydia, classical diagnostic measures are also carried out: blood is taken from a vein and urine for analysis. Blood must be taken on an empty stomach. When passing urine, it is necessary to refuse sexual intercourse. You need to collect material in the morning.
If problems arise, the doctor will be able to help solve them. All analyzes are painless and simple. To pass them, you do not need to carefully prepare and spend a lot of free time.
PCR
PCR is the most popular analysis that is performed when chlamydia is suspected. Its feature is a quick and fairly accurate result. For PCR take scraping from the genitals. It is necessary to follow all the rules so that the manipulations are effective.
The method of polymerase chain reaction allows to identify even single bacteria that do not show themselves. It is very popular and rarely gives false results. With it you can not only identify the disease, but also to understand whether therapy is effective.
This diagnostic method is also used after the treatment. If the result is negative, the person is considered healthy.
Smear
A chlamydia smear is an old enough method, but in some cases it can be useful. As a rule, it is used for complex diagnostics. If there is a suspicion that a person suffers from chlamydia, more accurate diagnostic procedures will be used.
The advantage of the stroke is low cost. It can also be performed at any clinic. The downside is low accuracy. Very often, in the presence of chlamydia, this method indicates their absence.
Chlamydia treatment in women
Chlamydia treatment is a rather complicated process that requires patience from a person. At the very beginning, you need to conduct a comprehensive diagnosis to determine the type of chlamydia and their sensitivity to antibiotics.
The main class of drugs in the treatment are antibacterial agents. They are used internally and locally. Together with them can be applied:
- immunostimulants;
- ointment to relieve inflammation;
- various dietary supplements.
The class of antibiotics is selected by a specialist. Tetracyclines, macrolides or fluoroquinolones are generally used.
The following antibiotic regimens are available:
- Acute Chlamydia: Azithromycin - 500 mg once or Doxycycline - 1 capsule for 7 days.
- In chronic chlamydia: Clarithromycin - 750 mg 3 times a day every 8 hours for 7 days. If necessary, repeat the course.
It should be understood that the doctor should select a treatment regimen based on the individual characteristics of the person and the severity of the disease. In addition, chlamydia can be resistant to certain antibiotics, so you need to choose the right medicine. If the bacterium is resistant to a single antibiotic, such as Azithromycin, then the entire class of drugs to which it belongs will be ineffective.
During treatment, you need to use various immunomodulators and immunostimulants to help the body defeat the disease. With prolonged use of antibiotics, it is necessary to apply probiotics to restore the intestinal microflora.
A prerequisite is the treatment of both partners. If you neglect this, then the infection will recur. If there are concomitant diseases, then you need to choose a treatment regimen in such a way as not to complicate their course.
During pregnancy
Treatment of chlamydia during pregnancy should be carried out with great care. Most antibiotics during this period are contraindicated. Because of this, it is much more difficult to choose a treatment regimen.
The following antibiotics can be used during pregnancy:
- Erythromycin;
- Azithromycin.
The dosage should be selected by the attending physician. It is advisable to undergo treatment in inpatient conditions so that the specialist has the opportunity to observe the reaction of the body. It is safest to use antibiotics that belong to the class of macrolides.
The main thing during pregnancy to minimize the severity of the manifestations of the disease. Ideally, you need to achieve complete cure. If the disease begins to develop, it will cause severe harm to the health of the child and the woman.
Prevention
Chlamydia prophylaxis is much easier to treat than to treat it. There is a huge amount of preventive measures for this disease. One should avoid promiscuous sex without contraceptives. In this way it will be possible to significantly reduce the risk of developing the disease.
In addition, doctors distinguish the following prophylactic norms:
- regular visits to the gynecologist;
- use of own hygiene items;
- safety when visiting public baths.
By performing a series of simple actions, you can protect yourself. When confronted with a disease, a woman should remember that she can infect someone, so she needs to inform her partner. In the acute course of the disease can not have sex. In chronic - it is necessary to use remedies.
