Chlamydia Symptoms in Women

Chlamydia is an alarmingly common sexually transmitted disease in the United States. Untreated, in women Chlamydia can cause significant health problems, including pelvic inflammatory disease (which itself can lead to infertility); it can raise one's risk of a so-called ectopic pregnancy or giving birth prematurely; and the infection can be passed from mother to child, leading to serious problems for the child ranging from blindness to pneumonia.

Women are especially vulnerable to transmission of the disease, and they are especially endangered by it because in as much as 75 percent of women with Chlamydia, there are no noticeable symptoms. It can be difficult to discern whether or not a woman has Chlamydia if she is asymptomatic. If she does display symptoms, the disease may manifest in one of the following symptoms:

• - Vaginal discharge that is abnormal and that might have an unfamiliar odor
• - Spotting or bleeding between periods
• - Periods that are especially or abnormally painful
• - Abdominal pain accompanied by fever
• - Pain during sex
• - Vaginal itching or burning sensations
• - Pain during urination

Unfortunately, many of these symptoms might be considered to be non-specific symptoms, meaning they are not specific to Chlamydia but can be indicative of a number of other conditions, infections or disorders.

For this reason, it is important for women who suspect they have been infected with Chlamydia visit their physician or health care professional as soon as possible so that they can be properly and accurately diagnosed. Diagnosis of Chlamydia in women could involve a swab sample taken from the cervix or tests performed on a urine sample.

Because Chlamydia is a bacterial infection, it is curable when treated appropriately with a round of oral antibiotics. In many cases, Chlamydia can be knocked out in a matter of a couple of weeks. Temporary sexual abstinence should be practiced so that one doesn't infect a sexual partner, and re-testing is a good idea following the cycle of antibiotics to make sure that the infection has in fact cleared the body.

While Chlamydia can be cured with oral antibiotics, in some cases women might require hospitalization and be given a more aggressive antibiotic regimen.