Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

Chlamydia and gonorrhea, are bacterial infections transmitted through vaginal, anal and oral sex or contact with semen, vaginal fluids or anal secretions of infected people. They are very common diseases, affecting both men and women. However, once detected, they are easily treatable with antibiotics.

Risks & route of transmission
Symptoms
Treatment & prophylaxis
Long term consequences

Risks & route of transmission

The most common route of chlamydia and gonorrhoea transmission is oral sex (according to our experience in Open House). Chlamydia is the most frequently detected infection in Open House.

The risks of transmission of gonorrhea and chlamydia in any type of sex (oral, vaginal or anal) is 40 to 60% by contact, if the person with whom we have had sex is infected.

Symptoms

Chlamydia
Usually asymptomatic, but in some cases from the 3rd week of contact there may be stinging on urinating or abnormal fluid from the vagina, penis or anus.

Gonorrhea
People who have symptoms, be between day 2 and 10 of infection. It can cause abnormal mucus or pus in the genitals and in women, abdominal pain, fever and irregular menstrual bleeding.

Although many people infected with chlamydia or gonorrhea have no symptoms, if you have any of the following, you should consider testing:
In men, stinging on urination, burning, itching, discharge from the penis;
In women: burning or painful urination, altered discharge, pain during sex.
For both sexes: sore throat, tonsillitis, pus in the throat, rectal secretions, rectal burning or pain, abnormal feeling with stools.

According to Open House, 60% of Chlamydia infections in men (in the urethra) have no symptoms and 30% of cases of gonorrhea. Multiple scientific publications support this figure.
In the cervix and throat infections 90% of show no symptoms.
You can only be 100% sure of not having Chlamydia or Gonorrhea by doing tests.

Treatment & prophylaxis

Open House fully complies with national and European guidelines in the treatment of gonorrhoea and chlamydia. We chose the right antibiotic on a case by case basis. Treatment may consist of a single dose or a course of antibiotics.

Outcomes in Open House
At Open House we successfully treat 99.5% of all gonorrhoea or chlamydia cases in house. Only 0.5% of cases get referred on to other specialists.
If you have had high risk sex for gonorrhoea or chlamydia in the last 3 days, there may be the possibility of administering prophylactic antibiotics. This is not an option for everyone and is decided on a case by case basis. Get in touch with us if you think you might be a candidate.
At Open House, whenever we have used prophylactic antibiotics, 100% of all patient were still negative in tests performed thereafter.

Long term consequences

Chlamydia is a major cause of infertility
If you are a man and have oral sex or penetration without a condom and you get infected with these bacteria, you can transmit them to another woman without realising it. In women, these infections can be very serious because they cause systemic infections, or can damage the uterus and Fallopian tubes. They are the cause of 20% of female infertility.

Chlamydia and gonorrhea, vehicle for HIV
The presence of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the throat, urethra, rectum or cervix can act as a catalyst for HIV transmission. For this reason, at Open House, if you test positive for one of these infections we will always recommend that you do an HIV test as a precaution.

Call us to book an appointment or get information

Open House has an extesive experience in diagnosis, management and treatment of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia. Our PCR tests, are unbeatable, both for their sensitivity and for the fast results (90 minutes).

You can do the tests afer two weeks of the risk contact you want to check, unless you have compatible symptoms, going to our Madrid clinic, where you will recieve advise from our specialist doctors or using our online services.

Tests in Open House Madrid
Online Services

Tests in Open House Madrid

The rapid tests: These tests are very useful if you have all the symptoms of chlamydia or gonorrhea. Detection with this tests rounds 90%, the result is in 20 minutes.

The sensitive tests (PCR): This tests, which looks for the DNA of these bacteria, is the best to detect cases without symptoms or with minimal symptoms. The result of these tests is available in just 90 minutes. Its sensitivity in genital samples is around 99% and in throat and rectum 90%.

Call us to book an appointment at Open House Madrid to do sensitive tests 160€

Online Services

Tests with unbeatable detection all from the comfort and privacy of your own home performed in our specialist clinic.

To detect gonorrhea or chlamydia from home, we use a technique that looks for their DNA. When you collect your sample an send it to us the DNA is still intact and detectable even if the bacteria die. There is no other test for gonorrhea or chlamydia better than this DNA replication.

We will send you a kit to collect your sample, a courier will pick it up at the address provided. The samples will be at Open House in 24 hours. You will get results by email in 90 minutes or maximum 24 business hours after receiving the samples.

If you come to Open House clinic in Madrid to leave the samples (2 hours without urinate for the urine sample) you will have your results in just 90 mins, avoiding delivery times.

Open House Guarantee: in case of a positive result in any test, you will get free advice with our specialist doctors by phone.

Genital samples: If we do this test from your urine (men) or a vaginal sample (women) overall detection is very high: 98 to 99%
Throat samples: If we do this test from your throat the overall detection is only around 90% but it is the best technique that exists
Rectal samples: For logistical reasons we are unable to offer gonorrhea or chlamydia tests from rectal samples you collect yourself. We can see you in our clinic in Madrid if you need a rectal test.

Unsure if you need to do this test? Maybe you should book a phone consultation with our specialist doctors first

Visit our online shop to purchase this test from 140€
Click here for a phone consultation with our doctors 50€

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There are other infections that may cause similar symptoms to gonorrhoea and chlamydia. However these ones are not included in the normal check ups because it is only recommended to look for them and to treat them in those cases in which they are provoking symptoms.

Mycoplasma genitalium
Mycoplasma hominis and ureaplasma urealyticum
Trichomonas vaginalis
Urethritis and prostatitis
LGV
Do you have symptoms? You can do other tests

Mycoplasma genitalium

Mycoplasma genitalium is such a small and strange bacteria that we can barely detect it in routine tests. There are very few laboratories in Spain that can detect it. It produces EXACTLY the same infections as gonorrhoea and chlamydia (in the cervix, urethra and rectum) but if it decides it is going to be a silent infection, it does not cause any damage.
It has very slow incubation (2 to 6 months) and so it is common to not remember who gave you the infection. We don’t see it transmitted in oral sex, only in vaginal or anal sex, and symptoms are usually very obvious compared to gonorrhoea and chlamydia.
If we truly suspect this infection (all the symptoms but gonorrhoea and chlamydia negative) we initiate a specific treatment protocol as it is very resistant to antibiotics. It is one of the reasons that someone should never try to treat themselves with antibiotics to try to avoid testing.
Open House will be able to detect Mycoplasma genitalium and also say whether it is a resistant strain or not by 2019 when we finally acquire a long-awaited test.

Mycoplasma hominis and ureaplasma urealyticum

Before giving more details about these infections you should know that they are not exactly like gonorrhoea and chlamydia in the sense that if they are silent (without symptoms) they almost never do any damage both in men and women. Many doctors don’t even treat these infections when they are detected by chance, considering them to be part of the bacterial flora. However, it has been shown that the presence of these infections can increase the risk of catching HIV. Therefore, in Open House we always recommend the eradication of these bacteria in women.
We find these bacteria in about 30% of the adult population (vagina in women and urethra in men)
They are only transmitted in vaginal sex.
They do not do any other damage if they are silent.

Trichomonas vaginalis

Trichomonas vaginalis is a parasitic infection which is silent in about 50% of cases.
When it decides to produce symptoms, it is associated with vaginal itching and in men, urethral itching.
Chronic trichomonas in men can be a risk factor for developing prostatic cancer.

Urethritis and prostatitis

Data on our clinical experience with urethritis or prosatitis in men:
Cases of urethritis or prostatitis managed: 5500
Clinical success in the treatment of urethritis or prostatitis: 98.2%

Other causes of urethritis in men
Urethritis (inflammation of the urethra, the tube inside the penis) is common after sexual contacts. The symptoms of stinging inside, when you pee or on the tip of the penis may indicate urethritis. In the previous section you can read about causes such as gonorrhoea, chlamydia, mycoplasma and ureaplasma as bacterias which may cause urethritis, but there are other culprits.

Non-specific urethritis: when a man clearly has urethritis but the tests are negative, we call this situation non-specific urethritis. It usually responds well to a particular antibiotic. A night out drinking with plenty of sex: After a night of heavy drinking that ended up with good sex, often we see urethritis which is nothing to do with bacteria, rather dehydration, trauma and chemical reactions to condoms. However, if the sex was unprotected, we recommend looking for infections first. Stress is also a cause of urethritis. Urethritis as a symptom of an underlying problem: Sometimes, symptoms of urethritis are not due to a problem of the urethra per se, rather there could be a urine infection, an imminent outbreak of herpes irritating nerves or infection in the prostate.

LGV

Lymphogranuloma venereum – the superchlamydia

Up until about 10 years ago there had only ever been seen about 100 cases of this serious infection in Spain. In recent years that is has gone up by about 500%. There is not a great deal of practical advice about this disease so Open House will share our thoughts with you here. It is of particular importance to men who have sex with men, who practise fisting or are HIV positive. It is produced by an agressive strain of chlamydia that invades the lymphatic system and can dissolve tissue and glands in the pelvis. Transmission in fistiing occurs from one persons rectum to another. In anal sex, it is transmitted from the penis to the rectum and vice versa. However, just like in other chlamydial infections, there are people who are silent carriers. A urethral infection can produce abscesses in the glands and in the rectum it can cause permanent damage. Key messages: if you have been diagnosed with urethral chlamydia and your glands are very painful, or if you have a rectal chlamydial infection that has relapsed, we should consider the possibility of lymphogranuloma and therefore a specific treatment.

Do you have symptoms? You can do other tests

As you have read, when you have symptoms after an unprotected penetration, there are other relevant infecctions to check. This package includes Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma and Trichomonas DNA detection test, PCR, the most sensitive technique. Results ready in 48 working hours.

Previous medical consultation, follow up and results given by Open House doctors is included in the price.

Get more information or book an appointment at Open House to do this package 210€

Do you live outside Madrid, or you don’t need a medical consultation?

Visit our online shopping to get this package 180€

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