Bridget lay awake on her bed. She checked the time. It was only 3:15am. She continued staring at the ceiling, deep in thoughts on what to do concerning her 1 year old relationship with Tim. She has barely had a good night sleep since the day she checked through his phone and found signs that he may be cheating on her. There has been several confrontations previously, but Tim denied having anything to do with another lady. She couldn’t push on the issue because she had never found him in any compromising situation. Moreover, she was head-over-heels in love with him.

It became more confusing and suspicious when she went for her annual medical check up and decided to check her STI status. She found out she had pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) from untreated chlamydia infection. This was rather unusual as she did not show any symptoms to the infection. She had no doubt now that Tim was cheating, and that he had infected her. She is in a dilemma – what should she do now?

Invisible infection

The truth is, contrary to what Bridget now believes as a result of her test, Tim may not actually be cheating. Bridget may have, in reality, gotten infected by Dan, her ex-boyfriend. You may think, but she’s been with Tim for 1 year, so it can’t be Dan. But it can. That’s because chlamydia is a “silent infection”, you can have it for years and show no signs. It may simply be hiding.

Chlamydia is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide that affects about 4.2% of women and 2.7% of men. Majority of which are within the age of 15-25. This is the age where people are mostly sexually active. Chlamydia is tricky because it doesn’t often show symptoms, and if you do not regularly check yourself, it can ascend into the reproductive tract to cause serious inflammatory disease like PID or chronic pelvic pain. And when this happens, it can lead to more serious consequences like infertility, or pregnancy outside of the uterus (ectopic pregnancy).

Is it there?

You see, chlamydia can be contracted through unprotected intercourse; vaginal, anal or oral. Sexual intercourse with multiple partners or with an infected partner can also expose you to it.

As we said earlier, most people do not show symptoms of having chlamydia. And even if the symptoms do eventually occur, it can take up to weeks after the infection. Those who show symptoms of chlamydia may have it in form of awful vaginal or penile discharge, painful urination, and swollen testes in males.

All you have to do is simple.

• Play it safe – Use condoms.
• Stop self-medicating with antibiotics – you won’t know the right doses to take, so you’d end up developing antibiotics resistance without even treating the infection.
• Get tested, and do it with your partner. It is always better when done together.

Stop Assuming; Be Sure.

You might be thinking, since there is no symptom, and no pain anywhere, why should I be bothered that I have an STI. Or you might say “I am a good boy/girl, I can’t have an STI.” My dear, it doesn’t work like that. We’ve already said it, and will repeat it, most people won’t have symptoms. We are stressing on this because we don’t want you to go looking for symptoms – because it may not be there. That someone doesn’t have symptoms doesn’t mean they don’t have chlamydia.

Another thing you should know is that chlamydia is not the only infection that may not show symptoms. Hepatitis B as well does not necessarily show symptoms. The good news is that you can test for Hepatitis B at home with our Slide Safe pack, Bluebird. Bluebird contains easy-to-use self-test kits of HIV 1/2, Hepatitis B and syphilis. It also has water based lubricants and free condoms. Discreetly packaged and delivered. Just visit our online store to order.

Stop assuming your STI status; test to know for sure. You put yourself in more danger by not knowing. So, take charge of your sex life today.