INTRODUCTION- Chlamydia infection is a common sexually transmitted infection in humans caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. The term Chlamydia infection can also refer to infection caused by any species belonging to the bacterial family ChlamydiaceaeChlamydia can be spread during vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and can be passed from an infected mother to her baby during childbirth. Chlamydia infection can be effectively cured with antibiotics. If left untreated, chlamydial infections can cause serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences
Signs and symptoms-
Genital disease
Inflammation of the cervix in a female patient from Chlamydia infection characterized by mucopurulent cervical discharge, redness, and inflammation.
Women
Chlamydial infection of the neck of the womb (cervicitis) is a sexually transmitted infection which is asymptomatic for 50–70% of women infected with the disease. The infection can be passed through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Of those who have an asymptomatic infection that is not detected by their doctor, approximately half will develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a generic term for infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and/or ovaries. PID can cause scarring inside the reproductive organs, which can later cause serious complications, including chronic pelvic pain, difficulty becoming pregnant, ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, and other dangerous complications of pregnancy.
Men
In men, those with a chlamydial infection show symptoms of infectious inflammation of the urethra in about 50% of cases. Symptoms that may occur include: a painful or burning sensation when urinating, an unusual discharge from the penis, testicular pain or swelling, or fever.
Eye disease
Chlamydia conjunctivitis or trachoma was once the most important cause of blindness
Joints
Chlamydia may also cause reactive arthritis—the triad of arthritis, conjunctivitis and urethral inflammation—especially in young men.
Infants
As many as half of all infants born to mothers with Chlamydia will be born with the disease. Chlamydia can affect infants by causing spontaneous abortion; premature birth; conjunctivitis,
Other conditions
A different server of Chlamydia trachomatis is also the cause of lymphogranuloma venereum, an infection of the lymph nodes and lymphatic. It usually presents with genital ulceration and swollen lymph nodes in the groin, but it may also manifest as rectal inflammation, fever or swollen lymph nodes in other regions of the body.
Transmission- Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Chlamydia can also be passed from an infected mother to her baby during vaginal childbirth.
DIAGNOSIS
Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion bodies (brown) in a McCoy cell culture.
The diagnosis of genital chlamydial infections evolved rapidly from the 1990s through 2006. Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT), such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), transcription mediated amplification (TMA), and the DNA strand displacement amplification (SDA) now are the mainstays. NAAT for Chlamydia may be performed on swab specimens sampled from the cervix (women) or urethra (men), on self-collected vaginal swabs, or on voided urine.
TREATMENT-
C. trachomatis infection can be effectively cured with antibiotics once it is detected. Current guidelines recommend azithromycin, doxycycline, erythromycin, or ofloxacin. Agents recommended for pregnant women include erythromycin or amoxicillin.
