Ask Bhola Da

Hello my readers,

Hope you had a wonderful time and enjoyed Dussehra and Durga Puja. I for one had a lot of fun during the Pujas, and those of you who are from West Bengal would understand that well. The festive season is also the time when we are in a jolly mood and things may go a little astray. But I do hope, that you all did use proper protection and were always safe.

With all the focus being on HIV, many other STDs at times do not get proper focus. So even though they may be more common, the dissemination of information about them may not be the same as HIV/AIDS. As always, using a condom during sexual intercourse can protect you from any transmission. One such common STD is Chlamydia. Let us know a little more about this disease.

What is Chlamydia?

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection caused by the bacteriaChlamydia trachomatis and is the most common form of sexually transmitted disease. A WHO estimate of new cases of Chlamydia among adults in the year 1999 puts the figure at 42.89 million in South and Southeast Asia.

How does one get infected?

As with other STDs, the bacterium is transmitted through unprotected sex (oral, anal or vaginal) and also from a pregnant mother to her child during vaginal childbirth.

What are the symptoms?

A majority of infected persons often don’t show any symptoms of the disease, making it harder to detect. When symptoms do occur, they occur after 3-4 weeks of infection. In men, this could mean urethral infection and lead to pain or burning sensation during urination, white discharge from the penis or rectum. In women, the symptoms could be discharge from the vagina, pain in the lower abdomen, burning sensation while passing the urine, and bleeding between menstrual periods.

What is the treatment?

The good news is that Chlamydia can be easily treated with antibiotics and the person can be fully cured. But always remembers, prevention is better than cure.