Questions. Chronic form of chlamydia Chronic chlamydia in men symptoms and treatment

Chlamydia is considered to be a urogenital disease that develops due to chlamydial infection entering the body. The bacterium appears after unprotected sexual contact and through personal hygiene products. That is why all people are advised to know the characteristics of chronic chlamydia in men.

The disease in question may not show symptoms for a long time, but at the same time progress. That is why treatment of chronic chlamydia in men is carried out quite rarely. This phenomenon can be dangerous, because there is a risk of problems with the entire body.

The chronic form of the disease is diagnosed much more often than its acute stage. Due to the fact that signs of the disease are either absent or very weak, the strong half of humanity may not even be aware of the course of the pathology. If treatment is not carried out in a timely manner, chlamydia will lead to urethritis, prostatitis or proctitis. The most terrible complication is the inability to have children - complete infertility. But here it is worth considering the fact that the infection can affect the joints, the respiratory system, vision, and the heart.

How is chlamydia transmitted?

It is chlamydial infections that are leaders in the list of all diseases that are transmitted through sexual contact. Every year, about 2 million people aged 22 to 42 years become infected with this disease. But in the modern world, statistics are getting “younger”: the progression of the disease is increasingly diagnosed at 14–17 years of age. It is noteworthy that people with both asymptomatic and symptomatic forms of the disease can infect a partner.

Doctors note two main routes of transmission:

• Contact form. This includes sexual intercourse and everyday life. A family can become infected through dishes, bedding, and unwashed hands.
• Vertical shape. This route is characterized by the transmission of chlamydia from mother to child. Antenatal - transmission during pregnancy, and intranatal - during childbirth.

The disease can remain in an incubation period for 10 to 40 days. At this time, the infection actively spreads throughout the body: the mucous membrane of the urethra is the first to suffer. If there has been deviant sexual contact, the bacteria can settle in the rectum or mouth.

Retrograde spread is characterized by damage to the testicles, epididymis and prostate gland. In addition, chlamydia affects the lymph nodes and is transmitted through the blood. In the case when additional bacteria are added to the infection, the disease becomes significantly more complicated and worsens.

How does chlamydia manifest?

The disease begins to appear 8–20 days after infection. In more than half of those infected, the disease is completely asymptomatic, but this does not mean that they are not dangerous for a sexual partner or family member. The main signs of chlamydia include the following:

• Increase in body temperature to subfebrile levels: 37.1–37.6. Increased weakness and loss of strength.
• The urethra is marked by the appearance of a glassy, ​​watery or purulent substance mixed with mucus.
• Most often observed in the morning.
• Burning and itching when urine comes out, slight cloudiness.
• Inflammation of the genitourinary system can be accompanied by blood during sexual intercourse or during urination.
• The outside of the urethra swells and turns red.
• A person feels pain in the groin or lower back.

After infection has occurred, the symptoms may completely or partially disappear. Such phenomena lead to the fact that a man stops paying attention to them or completely forgets, and therefore does not go to the doctor. It is this moment that leads to chlamydia becoming chronic and threatening prostatitis, cystitis and other serious diseases.

The disappearance of symptoms is not evidence that the disease has receded; rather, it means that the immune system has temporarily overcome it and turned it from acute to chronic. Before starting treatment, the doctor must be completely sure of the diagnosis and not confuse the problem with trichomoniasis, gonorrhea or mycoplasmosis. In addition, the symptoms of chlamydia are very similar to pathological processes in the pelvic organs.

Diagnosis and therapy of the disease in question

In order to make a diagnosis, doctors must carry out several standard procedures for this case:

• PCR is an analysis performed by isolating the DNA of microorganisms.
• Cultural examination of the scraping taken and the presence of chlamydial infection in it.
• Conducting direct immunofluorescence testing, during which the doctor uses special microscopes.
• An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, during which laboratory technicians isolate antibodies to chlamydia.

Both acute and chronic forms of the disease are treated exclusively with antibiotics. Here we are talking about the use of tetracycline group drugs: fluoroquinolones and macrolides.

These drugs are currently recognized as the most effective means for adequate treatment of the disease in question.

In addition to the above medications, specialists may prescribe another treatment: adjusting the treatment regimen using several general-action drugs that completely relieve the patient of the unpleasant problem. This includes the drug Vilprafen. The treatment regimen involves taking the medication for 1–2 weeks, but in cases where the disease is very advanced, therapy can take a whole month.

To maintain or increase the level of immunity, doctors prescribe taking a multivitamin complex, a natural adaptogen or an immunostimulating substance. Along with antibiotics, you should take medications that contain bifidobacteria and lactobacilli.

Such methods of therapy are explained by the fact that antibiotics lead to the destruction of the proper microflora in the intestines, which must be brought back to normal. For this, patients take Bifidobacterin, Linex or Lactobacterin.

If you have problems with the gastrointestinal tract, you should drink enzymes found in Mezim, Creon, Pancreatin, Heptral or Rezalute. In addition, the patient must be on a strict diet and completely stop smoking and drinking alcohol. Both partners living together must treat the disease at once; otherwise, all therapeutic measures are meaningless and will not bring the desired effect.

What are the consequences of chlamydia in men?

If chlamydia has not been treated for a long time or has not responded to treatment and has already developed into a chronic form, then the man’s health is under great threat. He may develop the following pathological processes:

• Prostatitis. The problem manifests itself as inflammation of the prostate gland, pain in the rectum, in the back, in the groin. The process of urination is slightly disrupted, and specific discharge may be released from the urethra. In addition, there is a violation of male function.
• Urethritis. Here we are talking about the appearance of itching of the urethra, frequent visits to the toilet, purulent discharge with mucus and urethral stricture as a result of the chronic course of chlamydia.
• Epididymitis. The phenomenon is an inflammatory process in the epididymis, characterized by increased temperature and swelling of the epididymis. These symptoms can lead to problems with spermatogenesis and complete infertility.
• Reiter's syndrome is conjunctivitis and chlamydial arthritis.
• Vesiculitis. The pathology is characterized by inflammation of the seminal vesicle located near the prostate. This organ is responsible for storing prostatic secretions, which are produced by the gland.
• Severe inflammation of the kidneys.

All these phenomena and signs appear only if treatment for chronic chlamydia in men is not carried out or does not help get rid of the problem. It must be remembered that the body always signals about some pathology, and a person must be able to promptly recognize these signals and contact the attending physician for a diagnosis after a full examination.

How does chlamydia affect male reproductive function?

Almost half of infertile couples face problems with male reproductive health. There are many causes of male infertility, but the most popular of them are considered to be infections in the genitourinary system, transmitted through sexual intercourse and causing irreversible changes in the composition of sperm.

The inflammatory process in the urogenital tract leads to hyperproduction of the active form of oxygen radical by sperm polymorphonuclear leukocytes, which threatens sperm stress and membrane damage in them. This phenomenon inhibits the fertilizing function of the sperm, so the long-awaited pregnancy does not occur.

But it is worth considering the fact that such a pathology can lead to improper development of the embryo and sudden abortions. Inflammation of the prostate significantly reduces the number of active sperm and negatively affects their fertilizing function. Chronic prostatitis is characterized by a several-fold increase in ROS in the seminal fluid.

Spermatogenesis suffers due to the fact that it is affected by chlamydial toxins and the products of their activity. It is chlamydia that settles on sperm, leading to their gluing, loss of mobility and natural function.

Very often, in people who have been diagnosed with chronic chlamydia in men, there is a violation of the function and patency of the appendage. In addition, pathology is observed in the process of stimulating the production of antisperm antibodies.

Measures to prevent chlamydia

If a man has already recovered from a disease once, this does not mean that he can become infected with it again. To prevent this from happening, you should follow a few simple rules:

• Abstain from sexual intercourse periodically.
• Be faithful to your permanent partner.
• Use condoms regularly, rather than IUDs or hormonal contraceptives.
• Refuse to take alcoholic beverages and drugs.
• Conduct preventive examinations annually.
• Do not hide the presence of alarming symptoms from your doctor.
• Treat the genitals with special means after each questionable sexual intercourse.
• Maintain personal hygiene.

If you are attentive to your health, do not hesitate to go to see doctors and follow all their instructions and therapeutic procedures, then you do not have to be afraid of the dangerous complications of chlamydia, even in its advanced form.

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Chlamydia takes pride of place among the most common sexually transmitted diseases. The difficulty of treatment lies in the fact that in most cases it is asymptomatic, and a person can live with chlamydia for many years without realizing it. Meanwhile, pathological processes are constantly developing and causing a number of complications. As a result of delayed diagnosis, the disease is difficult to cure and requires long-term and complex therapy.

When making a diagnosis, many patients ask questions: is chlamydia infection completely curable, has anyone cured it the first time? The uncertainty in these questions is absolutely justified, but there is a clear answer.

What is an infection and the difficulties of its treatment?

Before answering questions about whether chlamydia can be cured or whether the disease is incurable, you need to understand what it is.

It is transmitted primarily through unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner (any type of sex). There is no natural immunity in the body to chlamydia. The introduction of a pathogen does not mean that the disease will necessarily begin to develop, but the risks are high. Women are the most susceptible due to their anatomical structure. In addition, it is the female genitals that provide a favorable environment for their habitat.

A household route of transmission cannot be ruled out - chlamydia can maintain vital activity in the external environment for several days.

Why does the disease become chronic?

It is much more difficult to cure chlamydia than to acquire it. The disease is one of the most secretive of the venereal diseases. Therefore, patients are often diagnosed with a chronic form. The information that bacteria have lived in their body for many years puts patients into a stupor; the question arises: is chlamydia completely curable? Doctors unanimously answer - chlamydia in women (in men) is a curable disease.

For chronic chlamydia, it is really difficult to choose a treatment regimen due to the resistance of bacteria to the active components of many drugs. It may take years from the moment of infection before the disease is identified, during which time the person undergoes antibiotic therapy for other diseases. The concentration of active substances was not enough to destroy chlamydia, and they acquired “immunity” to certain drugs.

A timely identified disease of the acute stage, which has not yet become chronic, can be treated with ease. It is enough to take a course of antibiotics and you can forget about the problem. The competence and experience of the doctor is very important in this matter. Incompetent treatment can lead to chronic disease.

The key to a successful attempt to cure chlamydia forever is correct diagnosis, an adequately developed treatment regimen, compliance with all doctor’s instructions, and adherence to rules that contribute to obtaining positive therapeutic results. Full recovery can only be achieved with maximum effort on the part of both the doctor and the patient.

Possible symptoms

Since the disease is secretive in nature, symptoms are often absent or not severe enough to warrant seeking medical help. It happens that a weak clinic disappears after a few days. The patient believes that the body has healed itself. Meanwhile, bacteria rapidly multiply and cause harm. The disease develops into a chronic form, reminding itself at moments when defenses are reduced through the manifestation of the same blurred signs.

It is important to monitor your health. Women are more responsible for their well-being, so they should pay attention to possible symptoms of chlamydia:

• the appearance of mucous discharge with an unpleasant odor from the genitals;
• painful urination;
• discomfort during sexual intercourse;
• nagging pain in the lower back, lower abdomen.

A man may experience the same clinical signs, but rarely takes them seriously. When the first symptoms appear, you should immediately consult a doctor and undergo a full examination. Only a specialist can prescribe adequate treatment and answer the question of whether chlamydia is curable.

If the pathology is completely asymptomatic, then it is identified against the background of investigations into other problems - infertility, inability to bear a fetus, general intoxication of the body.

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What are the dangers of chlamydia?

Diagnostics

According to medical data, chlamydia does not cause death; even chlamydia that continues for several years can be cured. First of all, the patient must undergo a complete examination.

In medical practice, the last two methods are most often used - the “gold standard” for diagnosing chlamydia.

The most modern diagnostic method is transcriptional amplification, which uses the tactics of determining the ribonucleic acid molecule in biological material. Efficiency is 99%, however, the method has not been widely used and requires specially trained professionals and expensive equipment.

State clinics provide free microscopic smear analysis. The material is dried in a special way and stained with Romanovsky-Giemsa to determine the presence of bacteria. However, its effectiveness is only 20%; it will accurately identify the inflammatory process, but not the cause of its occurrence.

Confirmation of the diagnosis means that treatment is necessary. Lack of therapy leads to the occurrence of other diseases and infection of partners.

Why do treatment difficulties arise?

Many infected patients think that chlamydia is incurable; they are not even treated. It happens that patients who have already been treated lose faith in the possibility of a cure and, due to the prevailing circumstances, did not cure the disease immediately after timely diagnosis. This could happen as a result of incorrectly selected antibiotics or their doses, or failure to follow therapeutic instructions by the patient themselves.

People have been living with chlamydia for many years and are confident that the disease cannot be cured. They may not even ask the question, is chronic chlamydia treatable? This tactic is very wrong - the pathological process can be stopped, and, most importantly, it is necessary, the disease can be cured completely and forever.

Even more often, a situation arises in which we treat ourselves. For example, pathogens are detected in a partner, a doctor prescribed therapy for him, and the second partner, without visiting a medical facility, takes exactly the same course or goes to the pharmacy for “recommendations” from a pharmacist. But the treatment regimen for the disease is absolutely individual; it must be developed by a specialist, based on test results, general health, the presence of concomitant pathologies, and the patient’s age.

Many patients begin to doubt whether it is even possible to achieve a complete cure for this disease. It should be noted that such a cure is possible, but there are still prerequisites for such misconceptions. The fact is that chlamydial infection, once it enters the body, often does not manifest itself in any way. A person may not even have a reason to go for a preventive examination to a doctor. At the same time, chlamydia actively multiplies and can even spread throughout the body, leading to various complications.

Successful treatment of chronic chlamydia can be achieved with a course of antibiotic therapy. In this case, the treatment will have a number of features that need to be paid attention to by both the doctor and the patient.

The basic principles of treatment of chronic chlamydia are:
1. detection of concomitant infections;
2. selection of an effective drug;
3. antibiotic regimen;
4. search for atypical foci of the disease.

Detection of concomitant infections.

To achieve the maximum effect from the course of treatment, it is recommended to carry out the necessary tests to detect secondary infections before starting antibiotic therapy. The fact is that chronic chlamydia greatly weakens local immunity, and the urethral mucosa becomes especially susceptible to various microorganisms. In almost 70% of patients with chronic chlamydia, secondary infections can be detected.

Most often, the course of chlamydia is accompanied by the development of the following genitourinary infections:

Detection of these infections is extremely important for selecting the most effective antibiotic. A competent doctor will try to combine the treatment of two infections and prescribe a drug to which both microorganisms are sensitive. If you start treatment for chlamydia without taking into account other concomitant diseases, the second pathogen may be insensitive to the chosen antibiotic. Then treatment of chlamydial infection will lead to a severe exacerbation of another disease.

Selection of an effective drug.

The effectiveness of the drug must be assessed primarily in relation to chlamydia. Sometimes choosing an antibiotic can be difficult even in the absence of concomitant sexually transmitted infections. Despite the fact that chlamydia is considered relatively sensitive to many antibiotics, sometimes you can stumble upon resistant ones ( sustainable) strains of microorganisms. This is because a person with chronic chlamydia often does not know about it for a long time. During this period, he may take antibiotics for other diseases. At the same time, chlamydia develops resistance to drugs that they have already encountered. It is especially difficult to choose an antibiotic for those patients who have already tried to treat chlamydia in the past, but did not complete the job. Their strains of chlamydia will be resistant to most of the standard drugs used to treat the disease. However, in cases where the patient denies taking antibiotics or incomplete courses of treatment in the recent past, doctors are guided by statistical data on the sensitivity of chlamydia to various antibiotics.

The most effective groups of drugs in the treatment of chlamydia are:

• tetracyclines ( tetracycline, doxycycline);
• macrolides ( azithromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin, josamycin, etc.);
• fluoroquinolones ( ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin).

Most of these drugs are also effective against other genitourinary infections.

If a course of antibiotics does not bring the desired result, it is advisable to conduct a special laboratory analysis - drawing up an antibiogram. In this case, the pathogen will be isolated from the patient’s body, from which an entire colony will be grown in the laboratory. After this, the sensitivity of this particular strain in relation to a number of drugs will be checked. This will ultimately allow us to determine the most effective antibiotic so that a second course of treatment will be successful.

Antibiotic regimen.

The antibiotic regimen plays no less important role than the selection of an effective drug. The fact is that even if chlamydia is sensitive to the chosen medication, too low a dose can lead to treatment failure. The problem is the special ability of chlamydia to transform into the protective L-form under unfavorable conditions. If the antibiotic does not kill the pathogen in 10–14 days, then the microorganisms become covered with a specific protective coating and stop responding to treatment. That is, during antibiotic therapy, the disease will not be cured, but remission will occur ( subsidence of acute symptoms). Moreover, when chlamydia worsens again after this, the strain will no longer be sensitive to the drug that failed to cure it.

Therefore, when treating chronic chlamydia, the following rules are followed:

• Prescribing sufficiently high doses of the drug. This is necessary so that all chlamydia die before the formation of resistant L-forms.
• A course of antibiotic therapy only during exacerbations of the disease. During the period of remission, chlamydia is much less sensitive to antibiotics, so taking them will not cure the infection, but will only lead to the development of resistance in the bacterial strain.
• Change of drugs. To achieve the best effect, it is advisable to change medications from course to course. This is explained by the fact that different groups of antibiotics have different mechanisms of action on bacteria. Thus, combining and changing drugs eliminates the phenomenon of strain resistance.

It is also important to follow the medication schedule prescribed by your doctor during antibiotic treatment. Each drug has its own characteristics. It acts by entering the blood and accumulating in it in a concentration that is effective against chlamydia. It is assumed that this concentration will be maintained for a sufficiently long time, which will lead to the unconditional death of the pathogen. Taking an antibiotic even a few hours apart from the prescribed time will lead to a decrease in the concentration of the drug in the blood, which can significantly affect the effectiveness of the entire course of treatment.

Search for atypical foci of the disease.

To correctly select the drug and its regimen, the doctor must clearly determine what clinical form of chlamydia he is dealing with. Otherwise, the most common urogenital chlamydia can be cured, while viable bacteria will remain in atypical lesions. Treatment of some forms of this disease requires a special approach. For example, with the development of chlamydial conjunctivitis ( inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eyes) the antibiotic will be prescribed not only orally, but also in the form of drops or special ointments. Thus, success can only be guaranteed if all foci of infection are detected in the body.

Considering the complexity of treating chronic chlamydia, it is clear why in medical practice there are often situations when a course of treatment does not lead to recovery, but only to temporary remission. Most often, this is due to insufficiently detailed diagnosis or a frivolous attitude of patients towards treatment. However, medical errors cannot be ruled out. Taken together, this leads to the fact that the treatment of chronic chlamydia requires an average of 3 to 4 courses of treatment during periods of exacerbation. That is, the total treatment time can last for several months.

If acute chlamydia, which occurs with clear symptoms and can be recognized even by the patient himself, is not treated, then a chronic form of the disease occurs. This form of the disease is difficult to treat, since the causative agent of the disease develops immunity to some antibacterial drugs, and to those that are the basis of all therapy. If chlamydia is left unattended at this stage, there is a high risk of damage not only to the genitourinary system, but also to the respiratory system, as well as the heart and blood vessels.

In the vast majority of cases, initial infection with chlamydia occurs through sexual contact. Moreover, the transmission of chlamydia (the causative agent of the disease) can occur not only through classical sexual contact - the disease also spreads through airborne droplets. If within two months from the moment of infection the acute form of chlamydia has not been cured or at least not brought under control, then a “chronic” develops.

Reasons for the disease becoming chronic:

• Misdiagnosis.
• Incorrect selection of medications.
• Resistance of chlamydia to the drugs used.
• Violation of the treatment regimen by the patient.

Often people undergoing therapy mistake the disappearance of symptoms for complete relief from the disease. They interrupt treatment without “removing” the dangerous infection from the body. As a result, the disease continues to develop in a latent form; the transition to chronic chlamydia is a matter of time.

Sometimes the development of the disease occurs unnoticed. The fact is that chlamydia, even in its acute form, is sometimes asymptomatic.

Symptoms of chronic chlamydia

Symptoms of the disease differ between men and women. At the same time, it is quite difficult to detect the disease in a chronic form without a medical examination - the signs practically do not appear.

Signs of chlamydia in women

Symptoms actively manifest only if the disease has caused a serious decrease in the level of the body's immune defense. These symptoms include:

• severe burning sensation when urinating;
• painful sensations in the lower abdomen, and they can manifest themselves both in a state of complete rest and during physical activity;
• bloody discharge from the vagina.

Please note that even if the discharge does not involve blood, it is difficult not to notice a change in its color. In addition, they are accompanied by a strong unpleasant odor.

A much more striking sign of chlamydia is the occurrence of other concomitant diseases:

• cervicitis;
• uterine erosion;
• cystitis;
• colpitis.

There is also a high probability of adhesions in the fallopian tubes. The most terrible consequences of chronic chlamydia are cervical cancer and infertility. In these cases, the symptoms are clear, and before this, the disease in the vast majority of cases can only be detected during a gynecological examination or by taking tests in the laboratory.

Signs of chlamydia in men

Representatives of the stronger sex tolerate even the acute form of chlamydia asymptomatically in 45-47% of cases. The chronic form most often occurs without any symptoms. At the same time, the man remains a potentially dangerous carrier of infection for his sexual partners. If symptoms do appear, they look like this:

• the temperature rises to 37.5, especially in the morning and evening hours;
• there is increased fatigue and general weakness in the muscles;
• the first drops of urine when visiting the toilet are cloudy, and the process of urination is accompanied by a burning sensation;
• in the morning, glassy and purulent discharge from the urethra is observed;
• the urethra swells a little and takes on a reddish tint;
• During ejaculation, bloody impurities in the semen are possible.

All these symptoms can be striking in the chronic form of the disease, but they appear in short periods of time; for most of the course of the disease, nothing bothers the man. But there is one exception - with chronic chlamydia, representatives of the stronger sex almost continuously feel discomfort in the lower back.

If women have a large “set” of concomitant diseases, then in men they are limited to cystitis and prostatitis.

Treatment regimen for chronic chlamydia

The treatment regimen for the disease in both men and women is based on suppressing the activity of the infection and its complete elimination from the body through the use of antibiotics. At the same time, treatment of the chronic form of the disease is longer and more difficult, since the causative agent of the disease has already managed to develop immunity to certain medications.

Treatment in men

Before starting therapy, the doctor conducts a study of chlamydia activity, and also assesses the general condition of the body:

• the ability of the immune system to resist microorganisms;
• the presence or absence of diseases of the liver, pancreas, kidneys and gall bladder (it is through these organs that antibacterial components exit the body);
• Is there a microbiocenosis of the gastrointestinal tract?

The general condition of the genitourinary system is also assessed. After this, tests are carried out to determine the characteristics of chlamydia in each specific case of the disease.

After this, the doctor prescribes antibacterial drugs. Among them may be:

• tetracyclines: "Dorix" (from 11,748 rubles),"Unidox Solutab" (340 rubles), "Vibramycin" (about 950 rubles);
• fluoroquinolones: Lomflox (469 rubles), "Rovamycin" (from 1,089 to 1,634 rubles), "Ofloxacin" (from 31 to 194 rubles), "Levostar" (357 rubles);
• macrolides: "Sumamed" (from 219 to 1,114 rubles), "Vilprafen" (from 540 to 686 rubles), "Hemomycin" (from 143 to 304 rubles).

Antifungal agents are sometimes used to treat chronic chlamydia. Among them, Fluconazole stands out. (from 32 to 298 rubles), "Pimafucin" (from 163 to 534 rubles).

Treatment in women

The general principle of therapy is no different from the “male” version - taking antibiotics. But there are still a number of differences. Ladies should take more “killer” doses of drugs, since the infection takes root better in their bodies, which means resistance to antibacterial drugs is much higher. At the same time, the therapy itself is somewhat longer.

The main remedies for the treatment of chronic chlamydia in women:

• "Vilprafen" (once a day, 2 grams for 14 days). Price from 540 to 686 rubles;
• "Rovamycin" (3 units 3 times a day for a week). Price from 1,089 to 1,634 rubles
• “Tetracycline” (one and a half grams once a day for 14 days). Price from 77 to 80 rubles.

A drug such as Clindamycin is particularly effective. price from 184 to 595 rubles. Take it according to the scheme 3-4 times a day, 0.3 grams for 7 days. At the same time, sometimes one dose is enough to completely eliminate all symptoms, but, of course, this does not mean complete elimination of the disease itself, so the course of therapy should not be interrupted.

Women suffer this disease much worse than men. Therefore, in order to fully recover after treatment, it is necessary to take a course of medications to increase the resistance of the immune system, as well as vitamin complexes. Sometimes doctors recommend physical therapy along with taking antibacterial agents. In addition, after completing the course of treatment, you should undergo additional testing for concomitant infections with chlamydia.

Chronic chlamydia sometimes leads to such sad consequences as infertility and cervical cancer. Treatment is complicated by the fact that at an advanced stage of the disease, symptoms rarely manifest themselves, so the disease can only be identified in a clinical setting. You can learn about the causes and course of this disease by watching this video.

A disease whose duration exceeds one month is considered chronic in medicine. The insidious sexually transmitted infection chlamydia is no exception. According to statistics, more than 110 million people all over the planet fall ill with chronic chlamydia every year.

Chlamydia is the causative agent of this pathology. After the introduction of these microorganisms into the body through the entrance gate, an acute form of the disease first develops, followed by a transition to a chronic form. The most common reason for this pathological phenomenon is the lack of adequate or timely treatment.

Why does the acute form become chronic?

Chlamydia begins with a latent (incubation) period. Its duration corresponds to the time from the beginning of the introduction of the pathogen into the body (that is, infection) until the manifestation of its vital activity in it. The duration of this period varies - from several days to 2 months - and depends on the person’s immune status. The latent period ends with the manifestation of signs characteristic of the acute course of the disease. However, it is possible that its symptoms will be erased or absent altogether, which poses a particular danger to health, since untreated acute chlamydia contributes to a chronic process.

How can you become infected?

Chlamydia enters the human body during sexual intercourse. The entrance gates are:

• mucous membranes of the genital organs of women and men, that is, the vagina, cervix, urethra;
• rectal mucosa - during anal intercourse;
• oral mucosa - during oral sex.

The pathological process is triggered by reduced immunity, as well as chronic or sexually transmitted diseases. If a pregnant woman is infected, then during childbirth, when the baby passes through the birth canal, the infection can be transmitted to him. In this case, the child may develop conjunctivitis, otitis media and even pneumonia. It is difficult to become infected through close household contact. That is, when swimming in a pool, steaming in a sauna, or using shared towels, it is almost impossible to become infected.

Experts have identified another form of the disease - persistent, in which chlamydia, entering the human body, does not multiply, but seems to “sleep” in anticipation of failures in the host’s immune system. According to statistics, approximately 15% of people who are sexually active are just carriers of chlamydia, the symptoms of which they do not have. In such a case, the person is the source of infection and infects sexual partners. Even with the help of modern diagnostic methods, it is not always possible to detect carriage. Symptoms of the disease begin to appear when other sexually transmitted infections are involved, for example, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis.

Clinical manifestation of the disease

The course of the disease in chronic form has its own differences. The patient may not be bothered at all, or the symptoms may be smoothed out and practically not manifest themselves.

In the classic course of the pathology, when immunity is reduced, in women the disease manifests itself as follows:

• Mucopurulent discharge occurs from the genitals. In addition to the pathological volume, an unpleasant odor and color are noted;
• the disease is accompanied by pain symptoms. The pain is nagging in nature and is localized in the lumbar region, groin or lower abdomen;
• Intermenstrual bleeding is possible;
• burning sensation during sexual intercourse, as well as during urination.

In men, advanced chlamydia is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• discharge from the urethra, which occurs mainly in the morning;
• a feeling of discomfort (burning, slight itching) at the time of urination;
• difficulty urinating;
• pain in the groin, testicles;
• discharge of cloudy urine;
• the appearance of blood streaks in semen and urine;
• adhesion of the terminal end of the urethra.

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In addition to local symptoms, chlamydia is characterized by general changes in the body, which is expressed in lethargy, hyperthermia, fatigue, and decreased appetite. This is how intoxication syndrome manifests itself, indicating the spread of infection beyond the affected system.

In pregnant women, chlamydia manifests itself with similar symptoms. The danger of this condition lies in the infection of the child as it passes through the birth canal. The disease significantly reduces immunity, predisposing to inflammation not only of the urinary organs and vagina. After childbirth, there is a high risk of metritis (inflammation of the uterus).

Complications of the chronic form

Among the main complications are:

• a long-term inflammatory process leads to the formation of adhesions, which limit the spread of pathology beyond the lesion and at the same time lead to structural and functional changes in the organs of the reproductive system. In men, adhesions block the testes; in women, obstruction of the fallopian tubes develops. Against the background of ongoing processes, infertility may develop;
• A long-term pathological process with an advanced disease progresses and “spreads” not only to neighboring organs (bladder, urethra), but also affects distant systems of the body, for example, vision, lungs. Often one of the pathologies occurs, called Reiter's disease, accompanied by simultaneous damage to the eyes, urinary organs and joints;
• deformation of the urethra in the form of narrowings and kinks. Her only treatment option is surgery;
• narrowing of the sperm ducts leads to impaired sperm formation and infertility in men;
• prostatitis, first acute and then chronic, is accompanied by a change in the quality of the secretion secreted by the prostate gland and the death of male germ cells, and, consequently, infertility;
• the chronic form of the disease is fraught with the spread of infection to the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and heart.

Laboratory diagnostics

Chlamydia can be detected randomly during preventive examinations, as well as during tests to make a diagnosis, since the signs of the disease alone are not always enough for the doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. Additional research methods help to verify this.

Persons who should be tested first:

• if you have a promiscuous sex life with frequent changes of partners;
• if this disease is detected in a sexual partner;
• women suffering from primary or secondary infertility, even if the sexual partner does not have a history of this disease;
• women with a history of spontaneous miscarriages, premature birth, ectopic pregnancy;
• men suffering from infertility;
• women who have the following pathologies: cervical erosion, metritis, vaginitis.

In order to detect microorganisms, a scraping is made, which contains cells of an organ, for example, the urethra, cervix, or mucous membrane of the eye. Scrapings are taken with special disposable instruments. In addition, blood, urine, and semen tests will confirm the disease.