Radio Shows | Chlamydia — Setting a Public Health Record | mp3 … wma … wav

We've done shows on topics people don't really want to talk about.

Yep. And we're doing it again because the US has set a new record. The Centers for Disease Control reported more than one million cases of Chlamydia last year, the most ever for a sexually transmitted disease or STD.

It's neither a good record, nor a comfortable subject but obviously STD's remain a problem. Chlamydia is the most common STD caused by a bacterium, Chlamydia trachomatis.

They're small bacteria that have to grow inside cells but can survive outside allowing them to spread from person to person.

Chlamydia is known as a "silent" disease because 75 percent of infected women and half of infected men have no symptoms.

If symptoms do occur, they usually appear within 1 to 3 weeks of exposure. In women, they're mild and may include a burning sensation during urination.

But as the infection spreads from the cervix to the fallopian tubes some women will have lower abdominal or back pain, pain during intercourse or unexplained bleeding.

Forty percent of infected women will get pelvic inflammatory disease which can result in sterility.

If the woman is pregnant, Chlamydia may cause premature delivery. During a vaginal birth, the infection may also be passed to the baby.

If symptoms occur in men, they're mild and include discharge from the penis or a burning sensation during urination.

Serious complications can occur if the bacterium spreads to the epididymis, the tube that carries sperm from the testis which can cause fever, pain and rarely sterility.

To test for Chlamydia, a doctor can take swabs from the cervix or penis or order a urine test. If it turns out positive, antibiotics will clear up the infection. If you are sexually active with new or multiple partners, the responsible thing to do is get tested yearly.

Click here to email this page to a friend.