Can you have chlamydia for years and not know?

Anita Ravi, MD, MPH, MSHP, a practicing family physician in New York City, urges physicians to make STI screenings a routine part of patient care so as to help catch and treat chlamydia, which can have long term health repercussions if not treated. “You could have chlamydia for years and not know it,” Ravi says.

How long can you have chlamydia for without knowing?

Most people who have chlamydia don't notice any symptoms.

If you do get symptoms, these usually appear between 1 and 3 weeks after having unprotected sex with an infected person. For some people they don't develop until many months later. Sometimes the symptoms can disappear after a few days.

Can you have chlamydia for 5 years without knowing?

Chlamydia often has no symptoms, but it can cause serious health problems, even without symptoms. If symptoms occur, they may not appear until several weeks after having sex with a partner who has chlamydia.

Can you have chlamydia for 4 years and not know?

The majority of people who have chlamydia aren't aware of any signs or symptoms, even after several months or years with infection. Nonetheless the impact of untreated chlamydia can be serious for women, causing significant damage to the reproductive organs.

Can chlamydia be undetected for 20 years?

Although some symptoms can appear within weeks of contact, there have been reports of chlamydia remaining dormant for over twenty years.

Can You Have Chlamydia for Many Years without Knowing It?

Can chlamydia be dormant for 15 years?

Chlamydia can lie dormant in the body for many years causing a low grade infection without symptoms. It could potentially flare up to cause a symptomatic infection, especially if there is an alteration in the persons immune system, such as a severe cold or flu, cancer or some other severe illness.

Can you have an STD for 10 years and not know?

Symptoms can develop within a few days or weeks, but sometimes they do not appear until months or even years later. Often there are few or no symptoms and you may not know you have an STI. If there's any chance you have an STI, go to a sexual health clinic or GP for a free and confidential check-up.

Can chlamydia be treated after 3 years?

Nope! Chlamydia is easily cured with antibiotics. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection (like strep throat or an ear infection), which means that once you've been treated and tested negative for it (to make sure the antibiotics worked), it's gone.

Can an STD lay dormant for 20 years?

There are STDs that can lie dormant and you can continue to be asymptomatic for years. The most important STD to test for in this regard is HIV, which can lie dormant for many years. Anyone who has ever had unprotected sex should consider getting this blood test.

Will dormant chlamydia show up test?

A significant number of men do not typically show symptoms for STDs such as chlamydia although they are very capable of spreading the disease. Even though they are generally asymptomatic or dormant, they will still test positive for the STD. Most STDs that are in a dormant stage can be detected with a test.

How did I get chlamydia if I didnt cheat?

Apart from being infected at birth you can not catch chlamydia without performing some form of sexual act. However, you don't have to have penetrative sex to get infected, it is enough if your genitals come in contact with an infected person's sexual fluids (for example if your genitals touch).

Can chlamydia lie dormant?

Regular testing is important to detect the infection. Most test results are delivered within 2-5 days. Can chlamydia lay dormant? Yes, chlamydia can lie dormant in the body, causing a low-grade infection without symptoms.

What happens if I had chlamydia for 2 years?

If not treated, chlamydia can lead to damage to the reproductive system. In women, chlamydial infection can spread to the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), according to the CDC. PID can damage the fallopian tubes and uterus and cause chronic pain, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy.

What is late stage chlamydia?

If chlamydia is left untreated, it can damage a woman's reproductive organs. The infection can spread into the uterus or fallopian tubes and cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This happens in about 10 to 15 percent of women with untreated chlamydia.

How long can you have chlamydia?

How long does chlamydia last? With treatment, chlamydia should go away within a week or two. It's important to take all antibiotics to fight the infection. Don't have sex during treatment, or you could get reinfected.

Can my partner give me chlamydia but he tested negative?

The short answer

Yes, it is possible to contract a STI from someone who tested negative (for the STIs that they were tested for)… if (and only if!) they were positive for an STI that they weren't tested for. Or if they were positive for an STI in a location that didn't get tested, such as in the mouth and throat.

Why do I have chlamydia and my partner doesn t?

If you had a partner before him for oral, vaginal or anal sex, that could be who you got it from and your current partner managed not to contract it from you (now or yet), or contracted it so recently that he isn't testing positive yet.

Can you get chlamydia in a faithful relationship?

Abstinence is the only proven way to avoid catching or spreading this STI. However, you can limit your risk of getting this infection by being in a monogamous relationship with a partner who tests negative for chlamydia.

How long is chlamydia contagious without treatment?

After beginning treatment, most physicians suggest that patients with uncomplicated chlamydial infections (cervicitis, urethritis, and/or proctitis) are no longer contagious after about seven days. Tests that detect chlamydia in the urine and in other secretions are available.

What happens if chlamydia goes untreated for a year?

If a person is not treated for chlamydia, complications may occur. Women frequently develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID can cause infertility (not being able to get pregnant), chronic pelvic pain, tubal pregnancies, and the continued spread of the disease.

What does chlamydia smell like?

Chlamydia discharge usually has a strong, foul smell. The odour of chlamydia discharge in women is sometimes said to be fishy, or similar to the smell of pus.

How long can STDs lie dormant?

The time from exposure to when symptoms appear can range from a few days to as long as six months. In addition, some STIs may not cause symptoms at all. That means you may be infected but be unaware of it.

What STDs can lie dormant for years?

Latent STDs can cause someone to remain undiagnosed until symptoms begin to appear. This may put them at risk for long-term complications. Chlamydia, hepatitis C, HIV, HSV (herpes simplex virus), and syphilis can all have periods of latency.

How long does chlamydia take to show up in males?

Symptoms of chlamydia may affect the penis within 1–3 weeks of the person coming into contact with the infection. In some cases, though, these symptoms can take months to appear. Symptoms of chlamydia in the penis may include: white, cloudy, or watery discharge from the tip of the penis.

Can chlamydia be dormant and not spread?

Many people, both men and women, who are infected with chlamydia have no symptoms at all, but may still infect others. Any symptoms show up 1-3 weeks after you have been infected. Chlamydia bacteria may also remain dormant for long periods and then suddenly cause problems or lead to complications.