Chlamydia Treatment

Chlamydia treatment
All sex partners should be evaluated, tested, and treated for chlamydia if one person tests positive for the sexually transmitted disease (STD). People diagnosed with chlamydia should abstain from sex until they and their partners have completed treatment, otherwise re-infection is possible. Retesting should be considered for women, especially adolescents, three to four months after treatment. This is especially true if a woman does not know if her sex partner received treatment.

If you have been diagnosed with chlamydia, you should

• Abstain from sex until treatment is completed and successful.
• Inform your sex partner(s) that you have chlamydia so they can be tested and treated, if necessary.
• See your doctor if symptoms do not disappear within 1 to 2 weeks after finishing medicine.
• Take all medicine for the amount of time prescribed, even if symptoms disappear.

Medications
Chlamydia can be easily treated and cured with antibiotics, usually prescribed as oral pills. In most cases, the infection resolves within one to two weeks. However, people infected with chlamydia are often also infected with gonorrhea and are often treated for gonorrhea at the same time, since the cost of treatment is generally less than the cost of testing. You may be asked to take medication in a one-time dose, or you may receive a prescription medication to be taken daily or multiple times a day for five to 10 days. Doctors treat chlamydia with prescription antibiotics such as:

• amoxicillin (for pregnant women)
• azithromycin
• doxycycline
• erythromycin

Prevention
Chlamydia can be prevented by diagnosing and treating all cases of the infection among sexually active people. Additionally, if you are being treated for chlamydia infection, you should not have sex of any kind until treatment is completed as directed for all partners. As a general rule, sexually active women and men should always use a barrier form of contraception, such as a latex condom in order to be protected from chlamydia.