Chlamydia - What Happens

What Happens

Chlamydia does not cause long-term problems if it is treated before any complications develop. Left untreated, chlamydia can lead to many complications, especially for women. If a woman has chlamydia when she gives birth, her newborn can be infected.

Having a chlamydia infection that was cured does not protect you from a future infection. A new exposure to chlamydia will reinfect you, even if you were treated and cured.

Having chlamydia increases your risk of becoming infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) if you are exposed to the virus.²

Untreated chlamydia can cause a variety of complications.

Complications in women include:

• Inflammation of the cervix (cervicitis).
• Inflammation of the urethra (urethritis).
• Inflammation of the lining of the uterus (endometritis).
• Inflammation of the glands at the opening of the vagina (Bartholin glands).
• Inflammation in the uterus, fallopian tubes, or ovaries (pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID).
• Pelvic infection (abscess).
• Infertility.
• A rare liver inflammation (Fitz-Hugh–Curtis syndrome).

Complications in pregnant women include:

• Pregnancy outside the uterus (ectopic, or tubal, pregnancy).
• Miscarriage.
• Preterm labor.
• Premature rupture of the membranes (PROM).
• Chronic pelvic pain due to scarring of the pelvic organs.

Complications in newborns include:

• Premature delivery. A premature infant has an increased risk of health problems.
• Inflammation of the surface of the eyes and the lining of the eyelids (conjunctivitis). About one-half of newborns who have chlamydia get conjunctivitis.
• Infection of the nose and throat.
• Lung infections, such as pneumonia.
• Ear infection (otitis media).
• Urethritis, though this is very rare in infants.

Complications in men include:

• Urethritis.
• Inflammation of the tubes that hold sperm (epididymitis).
• Inflammation of the prostate, the gland that makes most of the fluid in semen (prostatitis).
• Infertility.

Other complications of untreated chlamydia in all people include:

• Conjunctivitis, spread by touching the infected area and then touching the hand to the eye.
• Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the rectum (proctitis), if the chlamydia is from anal sex.
• Varied symptoms, such as joint and eye inflammation, caused by bacterial infection (Reiter's syndrome).
• Lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV. This is caused by a type of chlamydia that is usually rare in the United States; however, it is becoming more common in men who have sex with men. It causes open sores in the genital area, headache, fever, fatigue, and swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin. It also causes proctitis in people who get chlamydia through anal sex.