GBT Health Center

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a common STD that can infect both men and women. It can cause serious, permanent damage to a woman's reproductive system, making it difficult or impossible for her to get pregnant later on. Chlamydia can also cause a potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy that occurs outside the womb).

• Symptoms show up after 7-28 days after infection.
• Burning when urinating
• Discharge from genitals
• Bleeding between periods (for women)
• Pain during sex
• Watery, white drip from penis
• Need to urinate more often
• Pain in abdomen, sometimes with fever & nausea
• Swollen or tender testicles

Spread during vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has chlamydia.

• You can give chlamydia to your sex partner(s).
• Can lead to more serious infection. Reproductive organs can be damaged.
• Women and possibly men may no longer be able to have children.
• A mother with chlamydia can give it to her baby during childbirth.

Yes.

No

 2nd Stage:

• Symptoms show as sore heals or after.
• A rash anywhere on the body.
• Flu-like feelings.
• Rash and flu-like feelings go away, but you still have syphilis.

Spread during vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and sometimes by genital touching, with someone who has syphilis.

• You can give syphilis to your sex partner(s).
• A mother with syphilis can give it to her baby during childbirth.
• Can cause heart disease, brain damage, blindness and death.

Yes.

No.Syphilis is an STD that can cause long-term complications if not treated correctly. Symptoms in adults are divided into stages. These stages are primary, secondary, latent, and late syphilis.

1st Stage:

• Symptoms show up after 1-12 weeks after infection.
• A painless sore or sores on the mouth or genitals.
• Sore lasts 2-6 weeks.
• Sore goes away but you still have syphilis.

 Gonorrhea is a sexually transmitted infection that can affect both men and women.  It is a localized infection that can be contained in the genitals, rectum, or throat.   There are an estimated 820,000 new cases of gonorrhea in the United States, and less than half of them are reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

According to the CDC 2014 STD Surveillance Report, Louisianaranks:

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#1 Gonorrhea

There are rising concerns for the cure of gonorrhea as research has indicated gonorrhea is becoming resistant to antibiotics.  We are down to 1 recommended effective class of antibiotics to treat it.  And, this is alarming!

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What can you do?

Young people ages 15–24, and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men continue to be at greatest risk for infection. We know that individual risk behaviors aren’t the only cause. Environmental, social, and cultural factors, including difficulty accessing quality health care, contribute to the higher STD burden. The good news? STDs are preventable! Gonorrhea is preventable! If our goal is to prevent STDs, then we need to know how to talk about them, when to test for them, and how to treat them..

STIs can be cured with antibiotics, but you can repeatedly contract them. The ONLY way to prevent them is by using condoms.