Page "Chlamydia infection" Paragraph 2

C. trachomatis is naturally found living only inside human cells.

Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and can be passed from an infected mother to her baby during vaginal childbirth.

Between half and three-quarters of all women who have a chlamydia infection of the cervix ( cervicitis ) have no symptoms and do not know that they are infected.

In men, infection of the urethra ( urethritis ) is usually symptomatic, causing a white discharge from the penis with or without pain on urinating ( dysuria ).

Occasionally, the condition spreads to the upper genital tract in women ( causing pelvic inflammatory disease ) or to the epididymis in men ( causing epididymitis ).

If untreated, chlamydial infections can cause serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences.