Chlamydia
This is a bacterial infection which is passed over in the course of sexual contact. Among the adults, about five percent of them are infected with this disease. Among the females who are adolescents, 10 percent of this group of people is infected with the disease. Generally, the groups of people who are most vulnerable to the infection include the young adults, the people who stay in urban areas, the African Americans, and those people having lower social economic status (“Chlamydia” 1).
Causes
This infection is caused by a bacterium referred to as Chlamydia trachomatis. One of the ways of transmission, as considered earlier on, is by having intimate contact such as sexual intercourse. Another way through which this disease can be passed over is transmission from mother to baby during birth. This disease can cause pneumonia in a new born baby and even severe eye infections among those babies that are born by the mothers who are infected with the disease.
Symptoms
The symptoms for this disease vary depending on whether the infected person is a man or a woman. The symptoms portrayed in men are not similar to those in women. In Women, no symptoms are seen in about 80 percent of the infected people. One of the symptoms that are seen is bleeding after one having sexual intercourse and also during the period between the menstrual cycles. Another symptom in women is having discharge from the vagina and also having lower abdominal pain in the course of urinating. In men, just as it is the case in the women, those who might be infected may not show any signs. Among the symptoms are; “a discharge coming from the penis during urination, one may experience a burning pain, and duct inflammation in the testicles or having pain in the testicles” (“Chlamydia” Para 5).
Treatment
This disease can be treated using antibiotics. Prescription may be given by a physician of a single dose of such a drug as azithromycin which is taken as a pill. More so, the doctor may recommend that such an antibiotic as doxyclycline be taken two times each day for a period of one week. Boskey (Para 1) points out that the most appropriate treatment for an individual having Chlamydia is dependent on a number of factors. She points out that if one feels that he or she may have difficulty remembering to take a peel every day at some specified time in the course of the day for a whole week, he or she may suggest to the doctor for he or she be given treatment by giving a single dose. However, it may be a little bit expensive to be given a single dose as compared to taking pills very day for a whole week. It is important to point out that a large percentage of those people using the antibiotics will be healed (about 95 percent of them).
Prevention
This infection can be avoided by when people engaging in protected sex where they use condoms. More so, it can be prevented by one trying to avoid as much as possible to have sex with those partners that might be high-risk partners. More so, prevention might be through offering treatment to those sexual partners that might be infected or ensuring that these partners have been tested before having sexual intercourse with them. About twenty five percent of the sexual partners will once again be infected for the reason that treatment was not given to the other partner (“Chlamydia”).
Prognosis
When treatment of this infection is carried out using antibiotics, the infected people can be cured (up to 95 percent of these cases). However, there arise complications in the cases where no treatment is done. Among these complications is that there will be development of “pelvic inflammatory disease” in between ten to forty percent of the infected women. Among those females who might develop the “pelvic inflammatory disease”, 5 percent of them will acquire perihepatitis and is a kind of the disease of the liver.
Still considering women, they may grow chronic pelvic pain and turn out to be sterile and this will come about as a result of the fallopian tubes blocking, hindering transportation of the egg from the ovary to reach the uterus. Considering the case for men, among them, there can be those who might grow reactive arthritis that is sexually acquired. More so, they may experience swelling of the testicles that is painful.
References
Boskey, Elizabeth, How is Chlamydia treated? 2008. Web.
“Chlamydia”, emedicidnehealth. eMedicineHealth. 2010. Web.