Chlamydia Treatment

[richysmith35]

Hi there, I have a quick question for you guys.  I was with a girl (not my wife) several weeks ago and started having some discharge symptoms a week later.  Just prior to these symptoms I was intimate with my wife several times.  I recently had some testing done and it came back positive for Chlamydia.  They prescribed me Doxycycline for a week and my wife 1 gram of Azithromycine (that z-pack med).  My question is, will my wifes medicine cure her if she was in that so called incubation period for chlamydia when she took it??  I guess I'm wondering if she could have taken the antibiotic too soon.  I just want to make sure our medicines will clear it up for us.  Thanks for your time.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Re-testing is not valid until at least 3 weeks and preferably 4 weeks after treatment.  Before that, chlamydia DNA may still be present, with a positive test result even though the infection is gone.  If you insist on retesting before 3 months, go ahead and do it about about 4 weeks.  But even if that's negative, you and your wife still need the 3 month test.  (And your wife needs it even if her current test returns negative.)

[richysmith35]

Hey Dr.,

Thanks for your response.  I will definitely contact that other person.  One quick follow up question if you have time.  I am very very anxious to get retested to make sure its all cleared up.  I have two days left of the Doxy and it seems to be getting better but I still have some symptoms (how long does it usually take to completely clear up?).  I'm just curious how soon I can get retested.  I dont want to wait 3 months- that'll kill me stress wise.  And no worries about this happening again.  This has completely freaked me out.  Thanks again doc- have a nice day.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I forgot to mention:  of course you also need to make sure your non-marital partner also is notifed and treated for chlamydia.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome back to the forum.  I'm happy to help.  Thanks for a straighforward question.

Azithromycin or other antibiotics are equally effective no matter the interval between infection/exposure and treatment.  The incubation period for an infection is strictly related to symptoms, i.e. the interval from infection to onset of symptoms of infection.  It is unrelated to the effectiveness of treatment.

You and your wife should both be re-tested for chlamydia in about 3 months.  This is called "rescreening" and is designed to detect both reinfection and the occasional treatment failure.

Finally, I suggest you get into the condom habit if and when you have other extramarital sexual exposures.

Regards--  HHH, MD