Chlamydia Complications

What health complications can result from untreated chlamydia?

If untreated, chlamydial infections can cause some serious health problems with short-term and long-term consequences.

 

Women

About 50-70% of females do not have any symptoms. This is the reason why approximately half will develop pelvic inflammatory disease, which includes infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. The damage done by the infection can lead to chronic pelvic pain, infertility, and pregnancy outside the uterus. Untreated chlamydial infections can also cause inflammation of the bladder. In women who have anal sex with a partner who has chlamydia, the bacteria can cause proctitis (an infection of the lining of the rectum). The bacteria causing chlamydia infections can also be found in the throats of people who have oral sex.

 

Men

Complications among men are rare. Infection sometimes spreads to the epididymis (the tube that carries sperm from the testis), causing pain, fever, and sterility (rare cases).

 

Chlamydia trachomatis species can cause the following conditions:

• Arthritis
• Cervicitis
• Conjunctivitis
• Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome
• Lymphogranuloma venereum
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Pneumonia in infants
• Reiter's syndrome