An estimated 3 million new cases of chlamydial infection occur each year. Most people who have chlamydia usually do not know it because they have no symptoms. Chlamydia can be treated and cured easily and inexpensively. If it is not detected, chlamydia can lead to infertility and other serious health problems in men and women, including increased risk for HIV infection. Among pregnant women, chlamydia can cause tubal pregnancies, which can be fatal to the pregnant woman.
Babies born to women with chlamydia can develop eye infections and pneumonia.
Most people who are infected with chlamydia have no symptoms. Men and women can get and transmit chlamydial infection through sexual intercourse. Reported rates of chlamydia are higher among women than among men because men are not tested as regularly and don't seek health care as often as women do. Sexually active women aged 25 and younger are at greatest risk for complications as a result of undetected and untreated chlamydial infection. The CDC reports that 1 in 10 teenage girls tested for chlamydia is infected, but rates vary in different communities.