Most chlamydia infections stay silent for months or years
Called a silent epidemic, genital chlamydia leaves at least seventy percent of infected women and half of infected men without symptoms at diagnosis. The bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis still drives tens of millions of new cases a year—and untreated eye infection can cause trachoma blindness.
Chlamydia infection is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Many people never notice symptoms; when they do, weeks may pass after exposure. The bug can infect genitals, anus, eyes, throat, and lymph nodes. Repeated untreated eye infection can produce trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness in developing regions. Only humans host this bacterium.
Spread occurs through vaginal, anal, oral, or manual sex and from mother to newborn at birth; eye disease also travels via personal contact, flies, and dirty towels where sanitation is poor. Prevention means abstinence, condoms, or mutual monogamy with an uninfected partner. Antibiotics cure it—typically azithromycin or doxycycline, with erythromycin or azithromycin preferred in pregnancy and infants—and partners should be treated while patients pause sex for about a week or as directed.
About 4.2 percent of women and 2.7 percent of men worldwide are affected; roughly 61 million new cases occurred in 2015, and the United States reported about 1.4 million in 2014. Ages fifteen to twenty-five see the highest rates, with women affected more often than men. Cervical infection stays silent in around seventy percent of women; roughly half of undetected asymptomatic cases progress toward pelvic inflammatory disease. Guidelines urge screening for sexually active nonpregnant women under twenty-five and others with new or multiple partners, prior STIs, or inconsistent condom use—hence the "silent epidemic" label for infections that can linger months or years before discovery.
Source: Chlamydia
