Gone undetected, Chlamydia can do serious damage to reproductive health in men and women. Most people who have this disease are not aware they're infected. It affects thousands of people around Puget Sound, threatening severe damage to reproductive organs and even sterility in both men and women. Yet it's easy to detect and cure if properly treated.
Abstinence is the only sure way to prevent getting infected.
The only way Chlamydia is spread is by unprotected sex. It has been on the rise among young people in Washington since 1996 with Pierce, King and Snohomish experiencing the third, fourth and twelfth highest rates of infection, respectively. Rates jumped 34.1 percent between 1996 and 2000 in Washington state. Early symptoms are often nonexistent or so mild that Chlamydia is a 'stealth' disease that is commonly passed on before carriers realize they are infected. Silent chlamydial infection causes infertility, tubal pregnancy, and pelvic pain.