Chlamydia is caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis

It is a very small parasite that lives inside the cells that it infects.

It has an unusual life cycle.

You can become infected with Chlamydia through:

• Intimate Genital Contact
• Insertive or Receptive Vaginal Sex
• Intimate Skin Contact
• Any Genital-to-Genital Contact, even without penetration

Can transmit the Chlamydia organism.

Secondary contact can transmit the disease as well.

For example:

• fondling
• foreplay
• and petting

Will all transmit Chlamydia.

Sometimes, Chlamydia can infect you without making you sick -- a person can have it and look totally healthy.

Secondary contact is how some people autoinoculate themselves that is they spread it to other parts of their body just by touching an infected area and then touching say their eye. Chlamydia will then infect the eye.

Chlamydia can grow in:

• the male and female urethra as well as the eye.
• In women, it can also grow deep inside the pelvis.

These are the only locations where it grows.

In men

Symptoms of infection begin to show within one to two weeks after exposure to someone who is infected.

In women

Chlamydia can have very serious consequences.

It can cause an extremely painful infection called Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID).

Chlamydia is easily treated with various antibiotics.

Contact your doctor as soon as you think you may have gotten an STD the sooner you are treated, the better your chances of recovery, and it is less likely you will get complications.

Also, have your partners checked out, and stop having sex until you get better. Otherwise, you and your partners could keep passing the disease back and forth to each other.

Having a chlamydia infection makes it easier for secondary or opportunistic infections to happen. This is especially true for HIV, which can easily get into your body if your urethra is irritated.

Also, if you have HIV and chlamydia, then you are more likely to transmit HIV to another person.