Chlamydia 'the silent infection':  Put yourself in the clear

The most common sexually transmitted disease in the UK, affecting one in ten people aged 15 to 24, Chlamydia affects several thousand people across Sheffield every year.

Yet, the majority of people with Chlamydia do not know they are infected. 

Half of men who have the disease and 75 per cent of infected women do not experience any symptoms and as a result, continue living with Chlamydia, unknowingly risking their health. 

Dr Kristina Irwin, GP at the Central Sheffield GP Consortium with a special interest in Sexual Health, explains:

Chlamydia trachomatis is a bacteria found in the semen and vaginal fluids of men and women that have the infection. 

Symptoms are relatively rare. Women can experience bleeding in between periods or after sex, lower abdominal pain, painful sex, pain when passing urine or an unusual vaginal discharge. 

For men, the symptoms can include discharge from the end of the penis, pain when passing urine or pain in the testicles. 

If the disease is detected early, it can be treated quickly and easily with a course of antibiotics. However, as symptoms are rare, Chlamydia can often go undetected for long periods of time, risking further complications.

The infection can then move up the genital tract and cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women – a painful condition that can lead to blocked fallopian tubes (the tubes that take the egg to your womb each month). 

This in turn can lead to infertility or ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy which develops in the tube because the fertilised egg didn’t reach the womb). This can be very serious and even life-threatening. 

In men it can cause infection of the testicles and possibly reduced fertility.