Chlamydia Treatment and When to Retest

A chlamydia diagnosis is common, treatable and nothing to be ashamed of. The medicine is simple, but a few details matter: finishing it, treating partners, waiting before sex and retesting. This page covers each step.

How is chlamydia treated?

With antibiotics prescribed by a clinician. The NHS says this may be a single dose or a course of tablets taken over several days. The CDC says the right treatment can cure chlamydia, and that it is important to take all of the medicine you are given.

We don’t list medicine names or doses here, because the right choice depends on you. A clinician considers things like whether you are pregnant, which site is infected and whether you have other conditions. The CDC notes that some antibiotics are not suitable during pregnancy, so tell the clinician if you are pregnant or might be.

Treating chlamydia stops the infection and, according to the CDC, could decrease your chance of problems later. It will not undo permanent damage that the infection has already caused.

Where can I get treatment?

You need a prescription, so you need a test and a doctor or clinician. Take your positive result to one. The NHS says treatment sometimes starts before the test results come back.

Don’t share medicine with anyone. The CDC is clear that chlamydia medicine shouldn’t be shared.

When can I have sex again?

Wait until treatment is complete. The CDC gives these timings:

• Single-dose treatment: wait 7 days after taking the medicine.
• Multi-day course: wait until you have finished every dose.
• Partners: also wait until all your sex partners have been treated, to avoid passing it back and forth. The CDC says to hold off until symptoms have gone too.

The NHS adds that you should avoid vaginal, anal and oral sex until you and your partner have finished treatment.

Do my partners need treatment?

Yes. The CDC says partners who had sexual contact with you in the 60 days before your symptoms or diagnosis should be tested and treated. If your last sexual contact was longer ago than that, your most recent partner should still be evaluated and treated.

This is to protect them and to prevent reinfection. Partners often have no symptoms, so they can’t tell whether they need treatment without a test. In some places a clinician may give you medicine or a prescription to pass to a partner, where the law allows it. Ask your clinician whether this applies where you live.

When should I retest?

About 3 months after treatment. The CDC says this applies to everyone treated for chlamydia, even if you believe your partners were treated. If you can’t retest at 3 months, the CDC says to retest as soon as you can within 12 months. You can order a retest online.

The CDC explains why: a high proportion of people treated for chlamydia get infected again, and most of those are reinfections rather than failed treatment. Repeat infections raise the risk of pelvic inflammatory disease and other complications in women.

Is a test right after treatment needed?

Usually not. The CDC does not advise a “test of cure” about 4 weeks after treatment for most non-pregnant people, unless the medicine may not have been taken properly, symptoms continue or reinfection is suspected. Testing earlier than 4 weeks can give a false positive. If you are pregnant, the CDC does advise a repeat test about 4 weeks after treatment, as well as another at 3 months.

What else should I get checked?

The CDC says anyone diagnosed with chlamydia should also be tested for HIV, gonorrhea and syphilis. The NHS notes that you may be offered tests for other infections together.

You can order a test online that covers these, and which STD test do I need explains the options. Check the list of infections a test includes before you buy. Note the date you finish treatment, so you know when 3 months is up and can order your retest at the same time.

You can get chlamydia again after being treated. Treatment doesn’t make you immune, so condoms and testing after new partners still matter.