Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a group of diseases caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydia are small immobile intracellular microorganisms. They are not able to synthesize energy on their own and therefore parasitize in the cells of the cylindrical epithelium lining the urethra, prostate ducts, epididymis, vas deferens, vagina, cervix, anal canal area, oral cavity, tissues of the ovaries and fallopian tubes. In some cases, chlamydia can cause a widespread process, affecting the conjunctiva of the eyes, joints, and other organs. This process is called Reiter’s disease.

The incubation period after infection lasts 10-14 days. The full development cycle of chlamydia lasts from 24 to 72 hours, after which the affected cell is destroyed.

One of the features of chlamydial infection is the latent course of the disease and long-term intracellular residence of microorganisms without pronounced clinical manifestations.

In mild forms of chlamydia in men, scanty mucopurulent discharge from the urethra, a feeling of discomfort in the urethra, itching, sometimes pain during urination, and redness of the lips of the urethra may appear. With complications (inflammation of the testicles, their appendages, prostate gland, damage to the joints, conjunctiva of the eyes), a clinical picture arises corresponding to each of these diseases.

In women, manifestations appear even less frequently. As a rule, these are discharge from the cervical canal, erosion of the cervix, visible only to the doctor at the appointment, less often discomfort in the vagina, when urinating, itching in the same areas, also in the anus. In both sexes, the throat and tonsils, as well as the rectum, are often affected.

The most formidable complications of chlamydia are infertility, miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and fetal abnormalities.

After a disease caused by C. trachomatis, immunity is unstable. Past infection does not provide immunity to reinfection. The immune response is maintained only in the presence of the pathogen in the body.

Chlamydia is very difficult to recognize. That is why its diagnosis and treatment will need to be carried out only under the supervision of a qualified doctor in a specialized medical center. Self-treatment or treatment according to the schemes of your friends is unacceptable.

Laboratory diagnostics must be comprehensive and include the following research methods: cytological, molecular biological (PCR diagnostics), immunological (determination of antichlamydial immunoglobulins in blood serum).