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4 Best At-Home Chlamydia Tests Of 2024
If you're concerned about chlamydia, an at-home test provides fast, discreet results. Learn how STI testing can protect you and others, and see our recommended options.
If you're concerned about a sexually transmitted infection (STI) like chlamydia, an at-home test is a smart and convenient first step. It can quickly give you the information you need to take action.
Chlamydia is treatable, but complications may not be. Read on to learn about how an at-home chlamydia test can give you the information you need.
If you test positive, chlamydia can be treated with oral antibiotics.
Chlamydia is asymptomatic, so people don't seek testing and may be spreading the STI.
The STI can be transmitted vaginally, orally, anally, and without ejaculation or penetration.
When researching at-home chlamydia tests, we considered the following:
One of the most significant concerns of chlamydia is its ability to go undetected. It might not cause visible side effects, but that doesn't mean it cannot lead to seriously negative health effects. Its hidden threat can have a lasting impact.
Chlamydia is the most frequently reported bacterial STI in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported over 1.6 million cases in 2021. The CDC also suggests that young women are more prone to the STI, with 1 in 20 women between 14 and 24 years old estimated to have the STI, but it can also be prevalent in men.
The disease can affect people with vaginas by causing pelvic inflammatory disease, increasing the risk of ectopic pregnancies and potentially causing infertility. For those with penises, it can cause epididymitis and infertility.
Because many people don't experience symptoms, and as a result, don't seek testing, the actual number of cases is likely much larger.
For pregnant people, chlamydia can pass to their baby during vaginal delivery. Chlamydia in babies can result in conditions like pneumonia and conjunctivitis.
Chlamydia can spread vaginally, orally, or anally between sexually active individuals. The bacteria, Chlamydia trachomatis, can be transferred without ejaculation or even penetration during sexual contact. For example, the STI can transfer through sharing sex toys that have not been properly cleaned or covered with a new condom with each use. Or, getting semen or vaginal fluid in one's eye can also transfer the bacteria.
Symptoms
When symptoms are present, they can often take several weeks to appear.
Those with female reproductive systems who are experiencing chlamydia may notice:
Those with male reproductive systems who are experiencing chlamydia may notice:
Chlamydia of the throat is often asymptomatic, but it may present the following symptoms:
Even if a person does not have any symptoms, the infection can still pass from them to others.
Chlamydia's symptoms overlap with gonorrhea, so you may not know which condition you have. It's also possible to have both conditions at once.
Prevention
To reduce your risk of chlamydia, it is important to use barrier methods, such as condoms, when you have sex. If you're sexually active, undergoing regular STI testing can also help identify an infection early and prevent it from transferring to sexual partners.
Testing for chlamydia is done through a urine sample or a specimen swab from the vagina. You can get tested at a doctor's office or at a health clinic, which may offer free or low cost testing, without insurance. You can also test yourself with an at-home chlamydia test like the Nurx At-Home STI Test.
If you test positive, chlamydia is easily treatable with oral antibiotics.
Getting tested is the only way to be sure you don't have an STI. Just because you feel healthy doesn't mean you're infection-free.
The CDC recommends sexually active women under the age of 25 get screened for chlamydia and gonorrhea each year, regardless of symptoms.
Using an at-home test, such as the Everlywell At-Home Chlamydia & Gonorrhea Test or these full-panel STD tests, may be a good way to get peace of mind. Getting tested can not only put your mind at ease, but it can also help you in being a more informed sexual partner.
Be sure to ask your partners for their status before engaging in sexual contact. While it may feel intimidating, asking can help you in the long run and present a sign of respect for one another.
Scientists Find A Possible Secret Hiding Spot For Chlamydia
Chlamydia may have a secret hiding spot in the human body where it can avoid antibiotics.
Researchers at the University of Würzburg in Germany have found evidence that the human gut is an overlooked "natural niche" for this all too common sexually transmitted infection (STI).
If the team is right, it could help explain why Chlamydia trachomatis reinfections in treated patients often involve the exact same bacterial strain.
"It is therefore reasonable to assume that the bacteria find a niche in the body where they are not yet vulnerable, that they form a permanent reservoir there and can become active again later," explains chlamydia expert and microbiologist Thomas Rudel from the University of Würzburg.
That's a dangerous prospect, because the longer chlamydia sticks around in the body, the higher the risk of infertility issues and ovarian cancer. Oftentimes, a chlamydia infection causes no symptoms or only mild ones, such as pain, discharge, or itchiness. As a result, doctors recommend retesting for the STI three months after finishing a dose of antibiotics.
Chlamydia is the most common STI worldwide, so it is vital that scientists stay on top of effective treatments. If there really is a reservoir of bacteria hiding out in the body, it could result in growing antibiotic resistance.
To investigate further, Rudel and his colleagues in Germany studied three organoids, or mini cellular models: one of the stomach, one of the small intestine, and one of the colon or large intestine.
Though these self-organized clumps of human cells lacked a natural microbiota or an immune system, they were equipped with a blood supply and could demonstrate how chlamydia might infect gastrointestinal cells.
Ultimately, the team found that the tissue lining the inside of the human intestines was effective at keeping C. Trachomatis out. Only when the tightly arranged cellular structure was damaged could the bacteria infiltrate.
If the bacteria made its way into blood circulation, however, researchers found chlamydia repeatedly bypassed the gut's physical barrier and established an infection in deeper parts.
This suggests that chlamydia can infect the gut very easily via the blood but not so easily via the intestinal lining. Clinical trials are now needed to confirm that idea.
"This is the first report of C. Trachomatis infection in human primary intestinal epithelial cells," write lead author microbiologist Pargev Hovhannisyan and his colleagues, "supporting a possible niche for chlamydial infection in the human intestinal tissue."
Chlamydia is known to infect a wide range of cell types, including those in the cervix, urethra, testicles, mouth, throat, anus, and eyes. But most experiments on the bacteria so far have focused on its infection in the genital tract.
Some studies, however, have found the DNA of C. Trachomitis in the intestinal biopsies of patients, and this suggests the infection can penetrate deeper into the body than we realized.
While C. Trachomitis is a human-specific pathogen, other species of chlamydia that can infect wild or domesticated animals can, and often do, make it to the gastrointestinal tract.
In fact, when mice are orally inoculated with the human-specific pathogen, chlamydia cells cross the gastrointestinal barrier and establish "long lasting non-pathological colonization in the large intestine."
Non-pathological means though the bacteria are alive inside the cells they aren't actively replicating. When threatened by antibiotics or other stressful events, the microbes can enter a dormant state to survive, reawakening only when conditions are appropriate to seed new infections elsewhere.
As a result, some scientists have proposed that the human GI tract is a possible secret hiding spot for persistent chlamydial infections, and the new experiments support that hypothesis.
The team now wants to test which cells in the gut are most susceptible to chlamydia infection, and why.
The study was published in PLOS Pathogens.
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6 Best At-Home STD Tests Of 2024
Freelance writer Breanna Mona tried the LetsGetChecked herpes home test. She found the testing setup easy and quick. Although the at-home STI test took about a week to arrive, the test process itself only took minutes to carry out. She had her results within 2 business days after returning the activated test by mail.
She said she would recommend the product for anyone looking for quick results at a middle-of-the-range price. "This brand has an easy-to-navigate process, clear instructions, and fast results," she said. "It can be a satisfying process, especially for those who want fast results and prefer to skip a visit to their doctor."
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