Chlamydia in children and newborns

One of the most commonly transmitted diseases in Europe is chlamydia, every year an untold number of people, both men and women are affected by chlamydia. It is not just women who are at risk when it comes to chlamydia infection; there is a huge possibility that it affects the fetus when the woman is pregnant.

The bacterium that carries chlamydia is one of the pretty common causes of blindness and labored breathing in newborn babies. A test for chlamydia is recommended if you plan to have children or if you’ve already conceived and you have one or more of these risk factors:

  • If you change partners frequently.
  • If you have multiple partners.
  • Having unprotected sex.
  • You are under 25 years old
  • If your partners have venereal disease.

You can get tested in a youth clinic or by your family doctor. You can take a test kit by purchasing the test kit; it’s pretty simple and easy to use. You will be issued the right dose of antibiotics with doxycycline, which will last for a week if you test positive for chlamydia infection.

To be 100% certain you are free of the infection; you need to ensure you complete the treatment.

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Chlamydia and the eyes of newborns.

An untreated chlamydia infection can be very fatal to the eyes of newborns, whether carried to full term or preterm. The newborn may get chlamydia conjunctivitis. This affects the growth of the eye of the child; the infant’s eyes get swollen, red, and full of a pus-filled substance. This can cause blindness in the child if not treated with antibiotics immediately.

Chlamydia bacterial infection can spread to the lungs of infants manifesting as pneumonia with nasal congestion, cough, and rapid breathing. Not taking immediate action and treating this with antibiotics is very dangerous to the health of infants.

More: Chlamydia in the eye

How Chlamydia affects pregnant women

Sexual intercourse is how the bacteria infection causing chlamydia is passed and spread around. There is little to no symptoms, and people with the infection might not even know they are infected. This then makes it very essential to get tested to know your status so as not to spread it or infect the unborn child if you are pregnant. This bacterium can spread to the Fallopian tube and cause pelvic inflammation. This is called conditional chlamydia; at this point, you might feel dizzy, have pain in the abdominal region, experience pain in the pelvic region if not taken care of, and treated immediately.

Some people might get symptoms, but it will only be for about three weeks, they will experience clear vaginal discharge and burning sensation when urinating.

Lots of people infected with chlamydia won’t know because they won’t see any symptoms, which makes it very easy to spread; it makes it a common infection causing pelvic inflammation.

This could bring about the worst case of ectopic pregnancy which is a situation when the fertilized eggs attached themselves outside the womb. It could be a fatal, life-threatening problem.

Chlamydia can also cause infertility, thereby making it very difficult for women to be able to conceive and get pregnant.

More: Chlamydia and pregnancy

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16210104

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3069694/