1. Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the Quiz on STDs

Medical Author:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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In this Article

• What are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)?
• What is chlamydia?
• What are the symptoms of chlamydia?
• How is chlamydia diagnosed?
• What is the treatment for chlamydia?
• Chlamydia At A Glance
• Patient Comments: Chlamydia In Women - Symptoms
• Patient Comments: Chlamydia In Women - Diagnosis
• Find a local Obstetrician-Gynecologist in your town
• Chlamydia In Women Index

Chlamydia can be detected on material collected by swabbing the cervix during a traditional examination using a speculum, but noninvasive screening tests done on urine or on self-collected vaginal swabs are less expensive and sometimes more acceptable to patients. While culturing of the organism can confirm the diagnosis, this method is limited to research laboratories and forensic investigations. For routine diagnostic use, newer and inexpensive diagnostic tests that depend upon identification and amplification of the genetic material of the organism have replaced the older, time-consuming culture methods.

Treatment of chlamydia involves antibiotics. A convenient single-dose therapy for chlamydia is 1 gm of azithromycin (Zithromax, Zmax) by mouth. Alternative treatments are often used, however, because of the high cost of this medication. The most common alternative treatment is a 100 mg oral dose of doxycycline (Vibramycin, Oracea, Adoxa, Atridox and others) twice per day for seven days. Unlike gonorrhea, there has been little, if any, resistance of chlamydia to currently used antibiotics. There are many other antibiotics that also have been effective against chlamydia. As with gonorrhea, a condom or other protective barrier prevents the spread of the infection.

Chlamydia At A Glance

• There is no "safe" sex.
  
  
• Condoms do not necessarily prevent STDs.
  
  
• Gonorrhea and chlamydia are bacterial STDs that are frequently found together.
  
  
• Chlamydia infection is treated with antibiotics.
  
  
• Chlamydia infection can lead to extensive destruction of the fallopian tubes and fertility problems.

Previous contributing author: Carolyn Janet Crandall, MD, FACP