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CHLAMYDIA FACT SHEET
August 05, 2007



  • Bacterial Infection


  • Symptoms:
  • Often mild or asymptomatic

  • Burning or pain during urination

  • Discharge from vagina

  • Watery, white drip from penis

  • Women may experience low abdominal pain or bleeding between periods.


  • Facts
  • Spread through sexual contact. Infection found in eyes, throat, anal and genital areas Can be passed on to infant during childbirth

  • Can cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) leading to sterility, and arthritis Treatment and cure available with antibiotics. However, damage done by infection not reversible.


  • Current Statistics
  • Chlamydia is the most common bacterial STD in the US

  • As many as 85% of women and 40% of men with chlamydial infections are asymptomatic

  • Adolescent women have a physiologically increased susceptibility to Chlamydia infection due to increased cervical ectopy and lack of immunity

  • CDC receives more reports of Chlamydia each year than any other infectious disease

  • 20% to 40% percent of women infected with Chlamydia develop PID

  • Among women with PID, scarring will cause infertility in 20%, ectopic pregnancy in 9%, and chronic pelvic pain in 18%

  • Approximately 70% of Chlamydia infections are asymptomatic