Chlamydia is the silent STI. Often no symptoms present themselves and it is the most common infection in the UK especially among those under the age of 25 years. The number of cases reported is only increasing despite the information available on sexual health with staggering statistics revealing that one in ten young people have chlamydia.

The Life Store in Middlesbrough are handing out free tests for the under 25s in the hope that this will expose infection and encourage safer sex.  What more can we do about the spread without following the youth of today around with condoms and chlamydia tests. This is exactly what we have resorted to and from Middlesbrough to the medics on the party circuit looking to spread the message of safe sex by handing out tests and taking names, the information is out there and surely cannot be ignored. Doctors were literally scouring London clubs on Valentine’s night asking for vaginal swabs and urine samples. I don’t know if this came to fruition but if it did, these clubbers will have their results posted within the week. Perhaps no step is a step too far in the name of ridding the country of its most dangerous and preventable diseases.

Some chlamydia tests will only take 24 hours to complete and do not even require a swab.  Leaving chlamydia alone can cause serious health issues but all it takes is a one dose antibiotic to be rid of this sneaky infection. All men and women will experience a range of symptoms or no symptoms at all with chlamydia and the rate at which these symptoms develop also differs from person to person.

One in four women who have chlamydia and do not treat it will develop a condition known as PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease) which is known to cause serious problems with fertility. The spread of chlamydia can reach the womb, fallopian tube and ovaries and cause PID which damages the tubes increasing the risk of infertility and of having an ectopic pregnancy.

Sexual health testing has never been more private, accessible and inexpensive. The latest chlamydia SELF check product in the UK can provide a positive or negative result within just 10 minutes. This test will be available in English GUM clinics, pharmacies and local supermarkets shortly providing no excuse for walking around with a dangerous STI.