Chlamydia - Have You Got It?

Question

Captain,

I’m a little worried, I’ve been with my girlfriend for a year, when we first got together I had a Chlamydia test the day after we first had sex which came back negative, she didn’t have a test, but because I was negative we knew that she would be as well. I’ve just had my yearly test that you recommend and it’s now positive. I don’t understand, does that mean she’s been cheating on me? I guess the tests do come back wrong occasionally.

Please help, Andrew, Eastleigh.

Answer

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for taking the time to ask me this question, I can imagine it’s a worrying time for you. To answer the last part of your question first, unlike my C-vision, the tests they do for Chlamydia can come back with the wrong result, but it is extremely rare that this would happen, if you think that may be the case then my advice would be to have another test when you pick up your treatment, but it is important you have treatment no matter what, because if you leave Chlamydia untreated then it can have some nasty consequences.

We can never tell for sure from a Chlamydia test whether someone’s partner has cheated on them, it is always a possibility, but it is important that you sit down and talk about it together. From what you’ve told me there is a chance that she could have had the infection since the start of the relationship, it takes 2 weeks after infection for Chlamydia to show up in a test, so you may have caught it that first time and it wouldn’t have shown in the test you did. That’s why it’s important that both partners get tested at the start of a new relationship. So in your position, everything is a possibility, it’s important that you both get treatment, but then you need to discuss the situation until you are both happy with it.

Good luck, and take care,

Captain Chlamydia