Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Chlymitia Kla-Mid-Dee-Ah

Chlymitia (Kla-Mid-Dee-Ah) is the commonest and curable sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the UK.

The most important thing to know about Chlamydia is that any one who is having sex is vulnerable. You only need to have unprotected sex with one person who has the infection to catch it; but of course, the more partners you have, the more likely you are to be infected. During 2001, there were more than 71,000 new reported cases, the highest level ever and a 10 % rise from 2000.

According to Public Health laboratory Service figures it is estimated that one in ten under 25 year olds now have the infection.

If you are over 25 and have had two partners within a year, or recently changed partners your risk increases.

One of the most alarming problems with Chlymitia as sex problem is that it is asymptomatic; that is to say most people don’t know that they have it in the early stages. This means that it is very easily passed on without people knowing. Some warning signs could be:

Discharge
Pain or burning when urinating
Inflammation of the penis or vagina
Pain in the lower part of the body
Heavy periods or irregular bleeding
Testicular pain
It can be passed on through:

Unprotected vaginal or anal sex with an infected partner.
Sharing sex toys
Passed from mother to baby at birth.
If it is left untreated for long enough it can cause serious damage such as problems with fertility including:

Blocked fallopian tubes (resulting in infertility)
Miscarriage or premature birth
Ectopic pregnancy
Help and Support

Chlamydia will not go away on it’s own. However it can be simply and successfully treated with antibiotics.

If you think you have been at risk you can either talk to your GP and ask specifically for a test, or you can contact a sexual health clinic. These are also known as Genito-Urinary Medicine (GU) clinics, and are usually found at a large hospital. The clinics are free and confidential. Anyone can go; your doctor does not need to refer you.

You can find your nearest one in the phone book. Or by calling:
NHS Direct 0845 4647.

Sexual health help-line is available seven days a week 24 hours a day
Call: 0800 567 123

Saturday, November 17, 2007

climidia detection

The diagnosis of genital chlamydial infections evolved rapidly from the 1990s through 2006. Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT), such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), transcription mediated amplification (TMA), and the DNA strand displacement assay (SDA) now are the mainstays. As of January 2007, the most commonly used and widely studied chlamydia NAATs in the US and many other industrialized countries are Aptima (Gen-Probe), Probe-Tec (Becton-Dickinson), and Amplicor (Roche). The Aptima Combo II assay tests simltaneously for C. trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the cause of gonorrhea. NAAT for chlamydia may be performed on swab specimens collected from the cervix (women) or urethra (men), on self-collected vaginal swabs, or on voided urine. Urine and self-collected swab testing facilitates the performance of screening tests in settings where genital examination is impractical. At present, the NAATs have regulatory approval only for testing urogenital specimens, although rapidly evolving research indicates that the Aptima test may give reliable results on rectal specimens.

Because of improved test accuracy, ease of specimen management, convenience in specimen management, and ease of screening sexually active men and women, the NAATs have largely replaced culture, the historic gold standard for chlamydia diagnosis, and the non-amplified probe tests, such as Pace II (Gen-Probe). The latter test is relatively insensitive, successfully detecting only 60-80% of infections in asymptomatic women, and often giving falsely positive results. Culture remains useful in selected circumstances and is currently the only assay approved for testing non-genital specimens.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

climidia symptoms

amydia is an asymptomatic disease for about 50-70% of the female population. Of those who have an asymptomatic infection that is not detected by their doctor, approximately half will develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a generic term for infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and/or ovaries. PID can cause scarring inside the reproductive organs, which can later cause serious complications, including chronic pelvic pain, difficulty becoming pregnant, ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, and other dangerous complications of pregnancy. Chlamydia causes 250,000 to 500,000 cases of PID every year in the U.S. Women infected with chlamydia are up to five times more likely to become infected with HIV, if exposed.[5]

Chlamydia is known as the "Silent Epidemic" because in women, it may not cause any symptoms and will linger for months or years before being discovered. Symptoms that may occur include: unusual vaginal bleeding or discharge, pain in the abdomen, painful sexual intercourse (dyspareunia), fever, painful urination or the urge to urinate more frequently than usual.

Male patients may develop a white, cloudy or watery discharge (shown) from the tip of the penis.

In men, chlamydia shows symptoms in about 50% of cases. Symptoms that may occur include: a painful or burning sensation when urinating, an unusual discharge from the penis, swollen or tender testicles, or fever. Discharge, or the purulent exudate, is generally less viscous and lighter in color than for gonorrhea. If left untreated, it is possible for Chlamydia in men to spread to the testicles causing epididymitis, which in rare cases can cause sterility if not treated within 6 to 8 weeks. Chlamydia causes more than 250,000 cases of epididymitis in the USA each year.

Chlamydia may also cause reactive arthritis, especially in young men. About 15,000 men develop reactive arthritis due to chlamydia infection each year in the USA, and about 5,000 are permanently affected by it. The triad of reactive arthritis, conjunctivitis and urethritis (inflammation of the urethra) is known as Reiter's Syndrome. All three entities must be present for this label to be used. It can occur in both men and women, though is more common in men.

As many as half of all infants born to mothers with chlamydia will be born with the disease. Chlamydia can affect infants by causing spontaneous abortion; premature birth; conjunctivitis, which may lead to blindness; and pneumonia. Conjunctivitis due to chlamydia typically occurs one week after birth (Compare with chemical causes (within hours) or gonorrhea (2-5 days)).

Thursday, October 18, 2007

what is climidia?

The real spelling is "Chlamydia", also known as women climida bacteria

Chlamydia is a genus of obligate intracellular bacteria in the family Chlamydiaceae, order Chlamydiales, class and phylum Chlamydiae.

The three species in this genus are Chlamydia trachomatis (affects only humans), MChlamydia suis (affects only swine), and Chlamydia muridarum (affects only mice and hamsters).[1]

At one time, this genus also included the species that are presently in the genus, Chlamydophila.

(text from wikipedia)