Be careful! Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection may "make a comeback"

Author: Jiang Juan, Researcher at the Dermatology Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Institute of Dermatology of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences)

Reviewer: Chen Xiangsheng, Researcher, Dermatology Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, STD Control Center)

Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a common sexually transmitted disease that has a great impact on reproductive health, so the treatment of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection is very important for eugenics. Genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection can be treated through regular screening, timely diagnosis, and early, standardized, and adequate treatment to kill pathogens, relieve and eliminate symptoms, prevent complications, and prevent further transmission. Despite the existence of effective treatments, Chlamydia trachomatis infection is still prone to persistence or recurrence, and the treatment of these persistent or recurrent infections is more difficult.

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1. What are the factors that affect the cure of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection?

Factors that affect healing should be considered from the following aspects:

1. Is the diagnosis clear? Is it a persistent infection, recurrent infection or reinfection? On the one hand, Chlamydia trachomatis infection is prone to persistence or recurrence, but Chlamydia trachomatis infection does not produce lifelong immunity, and reinfection can occur even after the disease is cured. There are a large number of asymptomatic infections of Chlamydia trachomatis in the reproductive tract of both men and women. These people are important and latent sources of infection and an important cause of reinfection. Screening and treatment of sexual partners can prevent reinfection.

2. Whether the antibiotics used for treatment are appropriate. Chlamydia trachomatis parasitizes in human cells, which requires antibiotics to have good cell penetration ability and maintain effective concentration for a long time. Choose appropriate antibiotics for treatment according to the treatment guidelines.

3. Whether there is drug-resistant Chlamydia trachomatis infection. At present, Chlamydia trachomatis has been found to be resistant to tetracyclines, macrolides (erythromycin, azithromycin, etc.), quinolones (ofloxacin), and even to multiple antibiotics. Resistance to antibiotics may lead to treatment failure. Abuse of antibiotics will accelerate drug resistance; do not buy and use antibiotics at will, follow the doctor's instructions and use antibiotics for a full course of treatment to reduce the formation of drug resistance.

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2. What are the long-term adverse consequences when genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection cannot be completely cured? How to avoid it?

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The long-term adverse consequences of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection mainly occur in women, such as tubal infertility and ectopic pregnancy, which are mostly secondary to persistent or recurrent tubal infection, immune inflammatory response leading to tubal damage and scar formation. The site of early Chlamydia trachomatis infection in women is the cervix. If not treated in time, the infection can spread to the uterine cavity, further infecting the fallopian tubes and even the pelvic cavity. Therefore, obtaining effective treatment as soon as possible is an important measure to prevent the spread of infection to the fallopian tubes. Repeated attacks of pelvic inflammatory disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis significantly increase the risk of tubal infertility and ectopic pregnancy. Therefore, active treatment of pelvic inflammatory disease can reduce the risk of tubal infertility and ectopic pregnancy.