Clamidiosis

Clamidiosis is a most common sexually transmitted infection. Chlamydial infection occurs 2- 3 times more often than gonorrhea. According to statistics, around 5 – 10% sexually active people are carriers of this dangerous infection. Clamidiosis pathogen is Chlamydia trachomatis, which is a transitional form between bacteria and viruses. Chlamydia lives in a living cell like virus does, but has structure similar to bacteria. Such duplicity of nature makes this pathogen stand against immunity of infected person and resist the treatment.

Stages of Chlamydia life:
1. infectious stage, when it lives out of cell
2. reticular stage, when it lives in cell being a cell parasite

Chlamydia life cycle equals two days. When chlamydias multiply in cells, they fill whole cytoplasm and destroy the cell. Then they emerge in intercellular space and enter other cells. Thus cycle repeats over and over again.

Ways of infection transmission:

• sex
• baby infection during pregnancy
• baby infection through genitals during childbirth

There were rare cases of Chlamydia infection transmission via bed and body clothes.

What are the dangers of clamidiosis?
The danger of clamidiosis is that it courses without symptoms. Longtime unrecognized chlomydia in the body may lead to serious complications. In males clamidiosis results in prostate gland damage (prostatitis), seminal vesicles inflammation (vesiculitis), epididymis inflammation (epididymitis) , and even male infertility. Spreading through urinary tract, chlamydia causes cystitis. In females chlamydia causes cervical ectropion, vaginitis. Often chlamydias enter salpinges where they cause inflammation development which then leads to cicatrical changes and results in female infertility.

Clamidiosis damages not only urogenital system in a man. Remaining in human body without treatment, chlamydias gradually spread through the whole body and damage internals and joints, and even eyes. Infected mother may become sourse of infection for her baby. Chlamydia may cause misbirth, non-developing pregnancy, etc. Intrauterine infection of fetus may cause multiple damage of internals. Often after birth in baby are revealed various pathologies caused by chlamydia.

Unfortunately, clamidiosis may cause Reiter's syndrome. This rare disease is characterized with simultaneous development of arthritis, conjunctivitis and urethritis (urinary tract inflammation). In some cases occurs skin inflammation. Those conditions appear after past chlamydia infection. Nature of the disease is not known yet. It is known that under influence of chlamydia may occur changes in immune system which leads to production of “false” antibodies directed against proper cells.