Chlamydia In The Mouth (Oral Chlamydia)

Oral chlamydia is still sexually-transmitted – as chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection, by definition, the infection is passed on by having a sexual encounter with another person.

Can you get chlamydia from oral sex?

Transmission of chlamydia, and other STIs, may also occur with sexual contact between the mouth, the penis, and the rectum. It is unclear if chlamydia can be passed on by kissing or by digital (finger) penetration alone.

Do you always catch chlamydia if you’ve been in contact with someone who has it?

It is impossible to say that you will always catch chlamydia if you have sex with someone else who has it, but there is a strong chance you could get the infection. Chlamydia bacteria are among the smallest bacteria, and millions will occupy one small drop of bodily fluid secretion.

If you have been at risk of chlamydia, it is always better to be safe than sorry. If chlamydia is not diagnosed and goes untreated there can be serious consequences.

It is difficult to be sure how commonly chlamydia is found in the throat, as study results are varied. In fact, most people with oral chlamydia do not have a sore throat and are unaware of the infection unless they test positive.

It’s not always tested for

The throat is not routinely sampled for chlamydia when you go for an STI screen. This is because current chlamydia tests may produce false positive results and cause anxiety. In addition, the chance of having oral chlamydia is extremely low (see below).

When are people at risk?

In a clinic, you may be offered a throat swab for chlamydia if there are other risk factors such as:

• Men who have sex with men (MSM)
• Sex workers
• Sexual assault
• Oral sex with a partner known to have chlamydia
• A persistent sore throat unresponsive to standard antibiotics e.g penicillin

The vast majority of people who have chlamydia in the mouth are completely unaware of this as it does not cause any symptoms at all. It is highly unlikely you will have any symptoms.

Is a sore throat a symptom?

Sore throats are very common anyway and are most often due to other common, non-STI viruses and bacteria which frequently occur in the back of the throat.

Serious signs of oral chlamydia

Some of the more serious complications of a chlamydia infection come with their own symptoms, including:

• Symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disorder:
• Abdominal/pelvic pain
• Fever
• Nausea
• Urinary symptoms
• Irregular bleeding
• Symptoms of reactive arthritis – extreme swelling or redness of a joint or joints
• Symptoms of acute epididymo-orchitis – acute redness, pain, or swelling of a testicle or both testes (this can be very painful and requires urgent medical care)

How can you get tested for oral chlamydia?

To test for oral chlamydia, you will need to have a swab taken from the back of your throat. You can take this swab yourself if you have a testing kit at home. A throat swab for chlamydia may/may not be offered if you visit either an NHS sexual health clinic or the GP surgery.

Can you buy a test online?

Yes, testing for oral chlamydia is possible using an oral chlamydia and gonorrhoea test kit from a service like Superdrug Online Doctor. Get discreet testing conveniently delivered to your door.

Yes you can. Chlamydia in the mouth, just as at other sites of the body, can be treated and completely removed with a simple course of antibiotics. However, it’s important to follow your treatment regime properly to ensure the infection is removed. Also, treatment only removes existing infections and won’t protect you from future infection.

Can oral chlamydia go away on its own?

If chlamydia is left untreated, it is thought that up to 50% of people will clear the infection themselves within 12 months. However, in the remainder of people who don’t clear the infection, a chronic chlamydial infection becomes established, and in the longer term this can result in serious negative medical outcomes.

How does oral chlamydia treatment work?

The first choice antibiotic for chlamydia is the antibiotic doxycycline. 100mg needs to be taken twice a day by for 7 days (this should not be used in pregnancy).

Make sure you use treatment correctly – it is important that you:

• Take all the antibiotics as instructed – don’t miss any out
• Do not have sex on treatment or for 7 days afterwards, not even oral sex or sex with a condom
• Your current/most recent partners should be tested, and treated as they are contacts
• Attend a sexual health clinic for a full STI screen

Do I need another test after treatment?

Usually no, except in the following situations:

• You have to be treated with a different antibiotic to the 2 standard treatments, e.g. erythromycin
• You have rectal chlamydia as well
• You are pregnant
• You are anxious
• You did not comply fully with the treatment regime

If you do get re-tested for your oral chlamydia this is known as Test of Cure – ToC. You need to wait 4-6 weeks from completing treatment to have this test. This is because the test may still test positive if there are dead organisms present, and you may get a false positive result.

What are the risks of not getting treatment?

Risks of untreated chlamydia include:

• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Tubal blockage
• Decreased fertility in men and women
• Acute epididymo-orchitis
• Prostatitis
• Blindness
• Reactive arthritis

Chlamydia is the name of a group of bacteria. The type of chlamydia that affects genitals and the throat is called chlamydia trachomatis. This is only a subset of chlamydia bacteria and there other types.

Other types of chlamydia

There are some alternative forms of chlamydia to the strain responsible for oral infections, including:

• Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) – this can also cause genital infections but is very rare in the UK
• Chlamydia psittaci – which cause a flu-like illness
• Chlamydia pneumoniae – which causes pneumonia in adults

Do tests vary between different types of chlamydia?

Yes. The tests for chlamydia will be different even for the same strain of chlamydia depending on where the infection is:

• Throat swab for mouth chlamydia
• Vulvovaginal swab for genital chlamydia in women
• A urine test for genital chlamydia in men

Other different strains or types of chlamydia also require different tests as they affect other parts of the body such as the lungs or eyes.

Does treatment vary between types of chlamydia?

Generally not very much. Because different types of chlamydia are still all bacterial infections, they are usually treated with broad spectrum antibiotics like doxycycline.

The only guaranteed way to avoid chlamydia is not having sex, but this is not a suitable option for most people. To reduce your chance of getting chlamydia you can try the following:

• Choose sexual partners carefully – however difficult, you should try to discuss any previous sexual history with a new partner before you first have sex
• Get tested before the start of a new relationship and do not have unprotected sex until you know your test results and your partners’ – an extended STI test kit which tests for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis is recommended
• Use barrier contraception such as the male condom carefully and correctly – always apply the condom before any sexual contact, including oral sex
• If you are diagnosed with chlamydia, always follow the advice about treatment very carefully – try to make sure, if you have had chlamydia once, you don’t get it again and keep getting tested regularly

Use condoms at the same time as other contraceptives – other contraceptives don’t protect against STIs and using condoms alone as a method of contraception has a high failure rate. Women are advised to use a reliable contraceptive method to avoid an unplanned pregnancy, but to use condoms as well, to reduce the chance of acquiring an STI

Who is it at a higher risk of catching an STI like oral chlamydia?

Risk factors for chlamydia include:

• Young age (< 25 years)
• Multiple partners/frequent change of partner/overlapping partners
• Gay/bisexual men
• Black African/Afro Caribbean partners
• Lack of barrier contraception
• Sex workers/ those working in the pornsex industry
• Drug addicts/homeless/those living in poverty
• Travel and having casual sex abroad

Are other people less likely to get chlamydia?

People most likely to get chlamydia are those listed in the high risk category above. However, chlamydia can occur in anyone, and at any age. It can be detected in newborn babies, if they have been born through an infected birth canal, and in old age pensioners, for a variety of reasons. That’s why it’s always important to reduce your chances of getting chlamydia