Yes, both guys and girls can get Chlamydia.

In men, chlamydia may cause urethritis, which can produce a discharge from the penis or pain when urinating. If not treated, it can lead to inflammation near the testes, which can cause considerable pain, and may lead to infertility.

In women, infection often starts in the cervix. Symptoms such as a vaginal discharge, burning when passing urine, lower abdominal pain, or pain during sexual intercourse may occur. If chlamydia is not treated, it may spread through the uterus to the fallopian tubes, causing salpingitis, a painful condition which may result in infertility or ectopic pregnancy (where the pregnancy develops outside the uterus. This is potentially a life threatening condition.) In some cases, infection of the whole reproductive system — pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) — can occur.

In both sexes, infection may be present in either the throat or the rectum (anus). At either of these sites there are usually no symptoms.

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If you have Chlamydia you should let any sexual partner(s) you may have know as soon as you can.

Chlamydia is passed from one person to another by sexual contact.If you have Chlamydia, then it is very likely that one or more of your sexual partners also have this infection.

Telling your sexual partners is important because it:

• is the only way most people will know they have this infection
• stops you getting the infection back again
• shows your partner that you care about them
• reduces the chance of your partner developing serious problems such as infertility.
• stops your partner passing the infection to others

Remember, most men and women with Chlamydia don’t have any symptoms and so they don’t know they have the infection.

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I am a GLBTI, could I also have Chlamydia?

Yes you could have Chlamydia.

Chlamydia is a bacteria that is transmitted through sexual contact (usually intercourse – penis/vagina or anal).

This little germ doesn’t discriminate between the sexual or gender identity of the people having sex – so if you have had unprotected sex (penis/vagina; anal sex; penetration with sex toys) with someone who has Chlamydia then you could also be at risk for Chlamydia. The testing and the treatment are the same whoever you are.

Can you get Chlamydia without having sex?

Whether or not you or your partner have Chlamydia before having sex depends on your definition of being a virgin...For some people this means only not having penis in vagina sex, whereas for me, as a Sexual Health Nurse, it really means having ANY form of sexual contact- (penis in anus/ penis in vagina/ oral to penis/oral to vagina).

If BOTH you and your partner are virgins (that is NO sexual contact with other people- (no oral, vaginal or anal sex of any kind), then, NO, neither of you can have Chlamydia. Chlamydia is passed from an infected person to another person during unprotected sex where the genitals (or throat) come into contact with the bacteria, and then infect the new person's penis/anus/vagina/throat.

How you get it wrap up:
You get chlamydia from vaginal, anal, or oral sex with an infected person. Chlamydia often has no symptoms. So people who are infected may pass chlamydia to their sex partners without knowing it. The more sex partners you (or your partner) have, the higher your risk of getting this STI.

An infected mother can pass chlamydia to her baby during childbirth. Babies born to infected mothers can get pneumonia (nuh-MOHN-yuh) or infections in their eyes.

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